Poured Forth by Amy Carmichael

Song of Songs 1:3 Thy name is as ointment poured forth.

Have you ever tried to get something out of a bottle without taking the cork out first? Some people remind me of bottles with the cork in. There is something truly good inside, but it is corked up. It cannot get out for the help of others.

Do you feel sometimes like a corked-up bottle? It is a stuffy, uncomfortable sort of feeling, but some manage to get on like that for months on end, to their great loss, and the loss of all who have to do with them.

Dear corked-up bottles, do go and get uncorked! There is only One who can take out the cork of self-love, or shyness, or sleepiness, or whatever it is that keeps you from pouring out for others all you have been given. He who was always sweetness poured forth ("Thy name is as ointment poured forth"), He can uncork your bottle; and then all you are and have will be used in the joyful service of others.