The parable of the barrel and the oil

I was worshiping last Saturday and Wilson asked if there's someone wanted to share, I chickened out and forgotten about it, and it came back together with an "expansion pack " just last night. And so, I shared.

I had this thought of this barrel/container filled with black stuffs. Next, it was a flow of water flowing constantly into the barrel. It then struck me, the water represents God's influence in our lives, and the "oil" refers to the dirty, tainted and the hidden dark side of us. In this analogy, the oil, sooner or later, when we have God's influence, will have to be displaced off by the water that is flowing in. The same principle applies when you have a cup of muddy water and you allow clean water to freely flow into the cup of muddy water, and the muddy water will eventually be displaced off.

We actually hold the key to the rate of flow of the water into the barrel so as to displace off the oil in our lives, and this rate of flow could be increased by spending more time with God via worship and quiet time and praying etc. As we seek Him through these methods, the barrel tends to be filled up more quickly, which will eventually displace off the oil.

But it dawned to me that, in often times, it is when we are broken and come as we are to God, the most amazing transformations occurs. Basically, God can work better on us when we are humble, broken and "mold-able", just like clay that is not dried up. And so, in relation to the barrel and the oil, it is when the barrel is punctured with a hole (we being broken), that our lives experience change in a faster, if not instantaneous manner because as the barrel (our lives; us) is being punctured with holes(us being broken), the oil (dirt and impurities in our lives) then tends to flow quickly out of the barrel (our lives). And with the remaining dirt sticking on the walls inside the barrel, we have the water(God's influence; love of God etc.) flowing into the barrel to clean it.

After the cleaning, so what happens? Well, in a logical context, one would use a plug and plug the hole to prevent the water from flowing out. The plug here, refers to the word of God. As it is mentioned in Luke 11:24-26, it basically says that a house that is swept and  in order will be invaded again by the demon that was commanded out of a house (person)  together with seven spirits more evil than itself. And here it means that when the barrel is clean of oil (impurities, sins in our lives) , we are to fill it with clean water (things of God ) into the barrel constantly and by enforcing our plugs (word of God) on that hole.

As the hole on the barrel also refers to the vulnerable spots that we had confessed and repented to God before, all the more that the hole should be "plugged " by the word of God. With that, the blessings of God shall not leak out from your life.