by Sally Bair
On our dairy farm, we had a shallow well that didn’t always produce enough water for our needs. My dad sometimes had to haul our cream cans to our neighbor’s, where they generously helped fill them with their water. They had an abundant supply of the precious commodity for their dozen or so cows while we had to make do, never sure when the well would give out and go dry. Never sure when the water would turn cloudy and taste bitter.
Because of the unpredictability of our water supply, we always made sure to keep extra containers of it to use in case of emergency. As a teenager, I considered the problem more than an inconvenience and worthy of many complaints. My parents never complained about the lack, however, seeming to take it in stride.
We tend to take our water for granted, don’t we? A simple turn of a handle brings an abundance of the highly needed liquid. We drink it, bathe in it, nourish our plants and gardens and cows with it, and launder our clothes with it. We even play and swim in it.
Throughout the entire Bible, water is a frequent subject. In fact, God ordained a certain ritual for the Israelites to observe during the Feast of Tabernacles celebration. A priest filled a golden pitcher with water from the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem and carried it to the temple, where he poured it on the altar as an offering to God. The ceremony commemorated the event of God supplying His people with water that flowed from a rock, during their travels through the wilderness.
Jesus talked often about water. Perhaps during one of the Jewish celebrations He said these memorable words: “‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ This He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive …” (John 7:37-38)
As much as the Israelites needed water to stay alive, and as much as our cows needed more water than our well could produce, we need the water of God’s Word and Spirit to stay alive in Him. Not only does He promise it in sufficient supply to take us through any trial we face, but the living water of Jesus always tastes sweet. “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Isaiah 12:3)
Lord, thank You for the Living Water of Jesus and for the assurance that it will never run dry. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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