out of the ordinary | things around the house

God frequently works through the ordinary. Through them he shares something of his love for us and reveals elements of his redemption plan. In this devotional series we look at some of the ordinary things Jesus would have encountered as he journeyed towards the cross. Today, cups! Holy Spirit, will you reveal something extraordinary through them. Amen.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23: 5-6, NLT

There’s an Indiana Jones film in which the intrepid professor of archaeology has to choose which - from a vast display of chalices - he thinks is the holy grail. According to legend, the grail was a cup Jesus drank from at the last supper and which was then used at the cross to collect his blood giving it supernatural powers!

That there is a such thing is, of course, a fallacy but what the film’s director probably gets right is Dr Jones’ choice of chalice. Among all the beautiful gold, silver, and bejewelled chalices laid on a long table the camera shows us a simple wooden cup; exactly the kind of cup a carpenter may have crafted. That is the cup Indiana Jones chooses.

If we look to the Old Testament we see the word “cup” is used as a metaphor to signify our lives and the Scriptures recognise our cups can be full of blessing and salvation, but also loss and horror.  When Jesus uses the phrase “take this cup from me” in the garden of Gethsemane he knows he is destined for intolerable suffering. His commitment to the cross, though, will mean we will be freed to live with our cups perpetually filled to the brim and running over with abundance. Not that we won’t experience bad things, but so we will be strengthened and equipped to overcome despite them.

Drink deep of the Father’s love for you today.

Let's pray
Thank you, Jesus, for taking the cup. Thank for you for agreeing to align with the Father's will. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you that, because of it, I am an overcomer. I bless you, Jesus. In your name. Amen.