You Can’t Purify the Water by Painting the Pump!

You can’t purify the water by painting the pump.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

Since the 4th century B.C., when Greek philosopher Aristotle referred to the heart as the most important organ in the body, it has stood as the one most closely related to our souls.

“If indeed from the heart alone rise anger or passion, fear, terror, and sadness; if from it alone spring shame, delight, and joy, why should I say more?” wrote Andreas de Laguna in 1535.

They quickly discovered the heart was the seat of our emotions even if it doesn’t look exactly like a Valentine. (It’s more like an upside down pear!).

Modern science refers to the heart as a pump, for that is what it does. It is a two stage pump that circulates blood throughout the body and carries away waste and impurities.

Even in our “sophisticated society” of the 21st century, we still talk about the heart when we are discussing anything that has to do with our feelings. We are “heart-broken” or “brokenhearted” and we have “heart to heart talks”. We can be heavy hearted, down-hearted, young at heart and half-hearted. And of course, we can’t forget “eat your heart out!” That one is a puzzler!

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What is amazing to me is that over 2,000 years ago, our Lord and Savior differentiated between the heart, soul and mind (or brain), when He referred to the heart as the center of all sentiment: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.” Matthew 22:27, 28 NKJV.

But that heart can get tainted if the pump is not flowing properly. Our heart must be pure, holy and free of things that are not pleasing to God. We must strive to line up to His Word.

 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

1 Corinthians 6:19, 20

This temple of the Holy Ghost cannot be taken care of as Tom Sawyer would have whitewashed a fence. It would only cover up for a little while, but eventually, after the winds and rains had come through, the weather would literally wash away the “coverup” and reveal the dirt that was hiding underneath all along!

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The Pump hopeinthehealing

The Pharisees were like that. Check out Matthew 23:27, 28 NKJV: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

They were all about the outside! The Bible says everything they did was for show, to be seen by men. These Very Important Pharisees wanted everyone to see them. They wore these scripture boxes, or phylacteries, on their sleeves, and around their foreheads. They believed the bigger they were, or the more attention they brought to the phylactery, the more righteous it made them. Their fancy robes had very large borders around the bottom with long tassels. To them, the wider the border, the more righteous the Pharisee!

If all we are doing is painting the outside of that pump, thinking that is going to make the well water taste sweet and pleasant to drink, friend we have a lot to learn. There is a little more work involved. We have to dig a well, clean out the impurities, purify that place, and make sure it is clean on the inside to match the outside!

What are some of the ways we can make sure our heart stays pure? Share your thoughts and insights with us today!

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” 

Hebrews 10:22 NIV

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24 thoughts on “You Can’t Purify the Water by Painting the Pump!

  1. Candace Jo Post author

    Wonderful thought Sylvia…we can definitely learn from the mistakes of others, and we should. Blessings to you, please come back!

  2. Candace Jo Post author

    Yes Mary! We try to do the easy things to make everything better…but trusting Him and letting HIM take control is the better way. Let Him cleanse us as you said, from the inside out! You are so welcome here!

  3. Hazel Moon

    As we share the truth of the Gospel, we must be certain to not water it down, but present it as God would have us. I love your photo of the pump and words to remind us about truth.
    Thank you for sharing your lovely post with us here at “Tell Me a Story.”

  4. passagethroughgrace

    Beautiful! It’s so much easier just to paint the pump but I pray that we all learn to clean ourselves from the inside out. Found you today at Whimsical Wednesday and Wedded Wednesday.Blessings, Mary!

  5. Sylvia Robertson

    What an excellent analogy! I want to remember this saying. I think I’ve seen too much “pump painting” in my lifetime. But maybe, just maybe, God has let me see so much of it to warn and admonish me about doing it myself!

  6. Candace Jo Post author

    Thank you for stopping by today Jenni! So glad you enjoyed the post. I was blessed to study it out and even more blessed by all of the insight from readers! You are so welcome here anytime!

  7. Candace Jo Post author

    Lol, I love that too Floyd! You are so right, the outside will take care of itself if the inside is right with the Maker. Thanks for stopping by!

  8. Floyd

    Excellent analogy! Like putting make up on a pig! What flows forth is what reveals our contents. May we be pure on the inside with His spirit… the outside will take care of itself.

  9. Candace Jo Post author

    Thank you dear Sharon. “Even when I’m woefully dry, even in a season of drought, Living Water brings purity and refreshment to my soul!” I love that, friend! You always have such good things to say and bless me every time.

    I didn’t borrow your red pump! LOL! I used to have one just like it too, I might have it in storage somewhere. Since we came back from overseas I haven’t unpacked much at all, just necessities. But I love those!! I love anything old 🙂 Blessings friend! But I did borrow the picture from rgbstock photos, and gave credit, lol, I didn’t notice until later that my font had hearts in it! Woot! ♥

  10. Candace Jo Post author

    Ha, history teacher I am NOT, but I enjoyed studying it out! 🙂 Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment! Blessings friend!

  11. bluecottonmemory

    Oh – I love that – “You can’t purify the water by painting the pump” – just love it! I’m a visual-kind of girl so this really hit home! I delight in a good history lesson, too! Thank you for blessing me today!

  12. Sharon

    Oh yeah, I get this! My biggest challenge is just to get out of the way, so that Living Water flows through me!

    For even when I’m woefully dry, even in a season of drought, Living Water brings purity and refreshment to my soul!

    GOD BLESS!

    (Do you know that I own a red pump that looks EXACTLY like this one?! Did you borrow it??? 🙂 LOL!)

  13. Candace Jo Post author

    Hey Nancy!Thanks for stopping by today! Blessings to you friend ♥

  14. Candace Jo Post author

    Love that Beth! Here’s to stripping it all away…thankful for forgiveness…over and over and over again! ♥

  15. messymarriage

    I’m so guilty of this, Nannette. I love “redecorating” my home and have a tendency to try to do the same thing to my beat-up and dirty heart. Of course, every time I try to hide the truth with a fresh coat of paint, Christ’s light grows dimmer in my life. Here’s to stripping it all away and letting God’s gracious forgiveness of my dingy heart shine through!

  16. Heather Mertens @ 40YearWanderer

    This speaks right to what I’ve been sharing as well: Christians must not live lukewarm. Lukewarm water from the well doesn’t taste good to the taster who needs to taste and see that The Lord is Good.
    Great post, Nannette

  17. Lisa

    So true, we often try to “paint the pump” rather than letting God do open heart surgery and remove the sin from our lives!

  18. Candace Jo Post author

    Blessings Shelly! I love studying the heart! ♥ Thank you for commenting, appreciate it so much!

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