There’s something about being a little kid on a beach. There is this gnawing, compelling need to dig a hole. Once the hole has been dug, the child must then place their body, toy, or something in the hole. For Maddox, my son, he is partial to digging a hole big enough to fit his entire body (or most of it at least).

The other thing Maddox enjoys doing is digging a hole and filling it with water. He will dig these deep holes and make little tunnels and pathways for water to flow through. As I watch him labor away, I imagine he’s thinking about the possibilities of what will happen and what he wants to happen when he fills these holes with water.

When he is satisfied with his creation, he takes a large green bucket with a small spout at the base and strategically positions the spout over the holes. He next transitions from Granular Substance Relocation Engineer to Sodium Chloritic Liquid Transporter. He quickly races to the ocean with another bucket in hand, collects his prize, and quickly empties the water in to the green bucket which drains in to his hole. He repeats this routine a dozen or so times before calling it quits. He had been defeated.

Defeat was Inevitable … Temporarily

As I watched Maddox try his hardest to fill the hole in the sand with water I knew defeat was inevitable. If you’ve ever poured water on sand you know how quickly it permeates into oblivion. It wasn’t until Maddox decided to utilize another bucket that things really took a turn for the better.

Sitting a short distance away from the hole was a third bucket that was all by its lonesome. This lone bucket would be the linchpin on which everything changed for Maddox. He took notice of the bucket and studied it for a moment before picking it up.

He proceeded to then re-dig the hole a bit deeper this time around. Once he was satisfied with its width and depth he placed the newly acquired bucket in the hole, filled in the sides around it, and smoothed out around the edges. In a flash he bolted back down the beach, old bucket in hand, scooped some of the incoming wave, and darted back up the beach. He promptly filled the large green bucket with the water and voila! it now drained in to the bucket in the sand and eventually overflowed the rim!

In Need of a Bucket

There is a hole in your life. You might be thinking I’m crazy, but I know it’s there. This hole is what causes us to crave anything we can find to fill it. We attempt to fill this hole with money, success, people, games, lust, alcohol, drugs, education, science, experiences, anything, everything. We desperately try to escape the emptiness of the hole.

We fool ourselves in to thinking, “this [fill in the blank], this is what will satisfy me.” We’re fueled on for a while because this “thing” is new and exciting. We ride this high, until the next hole filler comes along. All we’re doing is pouring water into our sandy soul. All the while there is a “lone bucket” crying out to be the answer to your crisis. Unfortunately for most this realization doesn’t come until we’ve been defeated.

When God created us He did so with the intention that we would walk and talk with Him for all eternity. We would be free of any holes. However, with the entrance of sin in to this world, His dream was crushed. Our soul would forever have a hole. The only “bucket” capable of handling the task is Jesus Christ.

Jesus sacrificed Himself on a cross giving us the ultimate filler for the hole in our lives. When we turn our hearts to Him, commit to following Him, and seek Him first as often as possible, He will give us so much life our bucket will overflow. There is nothing we can possibly do to fill this hole in our lives without Him in it. He loves you and desires to have a relationship with you. Simply accept Him, sprint to Him, and scoop up His wave of abundant love for you.