The Bucket Principle

When it comes to classroom management of children, a common tactic is to teach the “bucket principle.” This bucket principle instructs kids that everyone has an imaginary bucket above their head, and when we do good things for them, we can help fill their bucket. This might sound silly, but imagine that there is an imaginary bucket above your head and that the fullness of that bucket represents your satisfaction right now in this life. How full is it? Is it overflowing? Is it empty? Do you feel like there’s a hole in the bottom, and no matter how much you pour into it, it never gets close to being full? The psalmist declares in Psalm 23:5–6, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” In the presence of our enemies—when things seem as though they are at their worst— our cup will overflow. But it’ll only overflow if the right thing is being put into it. Being a Christian in the twenty-first century means we are seeking God and his kingdom first. When we do so, we will experience joy and gladness.