All My Fountains

Before I left for Europe I decided I wanted to memorize a piece of scripture for each place I go. So today, my second day in Rome, I realized, dang, I haven't thought of one yet. I thought, "Hm I wonder what passage I want to do." As I thought that, another thought followed, "All my fountains are in You". I was like daaaang, where did that come from. Well, we do have a LIVING, ACTIVE Savior who speaks to us and whispers in our ears. That is where it came from! 

As I thought about that saying and then franticly looked up what the reference is, I thought, "That is probably the best words for Rome". If you have been to Rome, you know that this city is full of fountains, every where you turn, a beautiful fountain. These fountains are handcrafted pieces of art that are so brilliant. Not only are these fountains so great, the water in Rome is fine to drink from anywhere. Tap, random spouts from the ground, bathroom sinks, etc. You don't find that all that often. 

As I have had time to think about this and think about the words to Psalm 87:7 I have begun to be consumed by this thought of my fountains in Him. 

"As they make music they will sing,

    All my fountains are in you.” 

In other versions it states, "Singers and dancers alike say, “All my springs are in you.”. I like to combine them both. "As the singers and dancers alike say, "All my fountains are in you" Most of you probably know, I am obsessed with dancing, dancers, dances, watching dancing. LOVE IT! I also love when people are undignified before the Lord, is that not what we are called to do? I believe it is and I also believe it is one of our only responses to the King of the world, His world, THE Messiah.

Psalm 30:11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

Psalm 149:3 Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.

2 Samuel 6:14 And David was dancing before the LORD with all his might...

Our joy and pleasure comes from Him. Through prayer and the Word we find our joy and our godly attributes. It flows from within us. Our bodies are His temple and "in Him all of our fullness dwells". The springs of life that we have are not our own but flow from Christ Himself. All of our fountains of flowing "water" are what He has graciously given to us through Himself. All of our attributes that are lovely and good are not our own. We could not come up with those without our fountains being in Him. If they were not in Him, they would be dirty fountains. Fountains that are not allowed to be sipped from in Rome! 

The things that flow out of us represent the fountain in Christ. Do we need to step back and look at our actions and words? Do they reflect Christ? Are they flowing with joy and goodness? Or do they deface the image of God that we each have in us? Is our water fine to drink from in any fountain it comes from? Or do we have water that is intoxicating to those around us?

I believe I have things to think about and work on. My fountains flow from within Christ, out of me. That is something I do not want to destroy. I have much more to learn and figure out about this, but it has taken hold of my thoughts these few days of walking past fountain after fountain.