Slurpee Overflow

And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.

1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NLT)

I was a student worker over the summer at my high school, Fresno Adventist Academy, and was one of the few guys who had his driver’s license and his own car. So, occasionally, the other student workers and I would slip away for lunch break and go get something that had no nutritional value at all. Our favorite? The 7-11 Slurpee. It was 64 ounces of magnificent frozen sugar. And, on a hot Fresno afternoon (which was usually over 100 degrees), it always hit the spot. Then, there was that one time the spot it hit got really, really big.

We entered the 7-11 as usual and headed to the Slurpee machine. It was self-serve. We grabbed the oversized cups, and my friend placed his under the nozzle and then pulled the lever to activate the flow of sweetness. As my buddy finished filling his cup, he pushed up on the lever to stop the flow of Slurpee juice, but nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing. His cup began to overflow. So, my other friend threw his cup underneath and began filling his. The lever still wasn’t working. His cup began to overflow, so I stuck my cup underneath. I watched as the Slurpeeness climbed to the rim of my cup and began to spill over the sides. We were out of cups. Frantically, one of my friends got the store clerk to come running over who unplugged the machine. The Slurpee flood of 1992 was over. But, the aftermath remained. As we looked around, there was a giant puddle of Slurpee all over the counter, the floor, and our feet. Our shoes stuck to the ground wherever we walked for the rest of the day.

I picture God’s love kinda like the Slurpee machine. Yes, it’s sweet and oh so good! But, I also know that it is limitless. There is no end to His love for you and me. And, if we allow it to, it will pour into us so powerfully that it will overflow into others.

As Paul put it nearly 2,000 years ago, “And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.” In other words, God’s love is too big for a simple human to contain. Once it begins flowing, it will keep on coming full force into our lives until His love overflows and begins to fill the lives of our friends, families, and neighbors. However, unlike the Slurpee incident, the love overflow doesn’t leave a giant mess behind. Instead, it brings salvation to those who let it in.

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