November 12, 2020
John 4:10-14 Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She said to Him, “Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
When I was growing up, I heard the devotional title on many an occasion. I know there was more to it than the reason I usually believed in my young mind, that adults just wanted to spoil my fun. There were practical reasons, one, the output of wells in those days didn’t match what most farms have today, two, we had livestock on the farm whose needs definitely took priority over a young boy wanting to play. Those of you that lived in that era remember what it was like to try taking a shower when the cattle & or hogs were drinking. Maybe the most lasting impression, I learned from my dear grandmother, clean running water was in fact a gift from God to be used wisely not wastefully. We had missionaries that came to Helmar sharing with us that the people they were ministering to would literally have to walk in some cases miles to get just a bucket of clean water. I have to admit that the lessons stuck, it still bothers me to let that clean water run down the drain waiting for hot water to get to the tap.
One of the coolest things I have ever seen is when I was working in Idaho. Much of that state consists of volcanic rock but, it is covered with a layer of rich top soil allowing for excellent farming. Driving through the countryside I happened upon a trout farm that was being fed by water leaking out of a volcanic rock wall, fifty foot tall and nearly a thousand feet long. Those of you familiar with trout know that they only survive in very clean water. I could not resist catching a cup and drinking some of that cool clear water. Have to admit that it made me think of the stories I read in the OT about God’s provision for his people, bringing water from the rock.
When I read the Old Testament story of the Israelite exodus from Egypt, estimated to be as many as 2.5 million total people plus all their livestock, it’s difficult for me to get my mind around the amount of water needed to sustain them. We can speculate and some have suggested it was 11 million gallons a day but, it’s enough for me to trust that a miracle working God had all the logistics figured out way in advance. I wonder if those days will be on GCM, God’s Classic Movie, channel when we get to Heaven. Probably won’t seem that important once I get a look at Jesus’ face.
Jesus, our unlimited source of, “Living Water,” we don’t have to worry about running out or not having enough to satisfy, He even refers to it as becoming a fountain that will become eternal. In spite of this unlimited supply there is still a risk for us of being guilty of wasting. When I have the, “Living Water," and don’t share it, pour it out liberally on the lost around me, then I’m guilty of wasting, both God’s grace and my time.
Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned Me, the fountain of living waters, to carve out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that do not hold water.
See, I recognize as we all must, that we are all broken cisterns without God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrifice but, it’s not what He wants for me or for you. So, in spite the cracks we see when we look in the mirror, take the time to think about ourselves in quiet moments, or get reminded of by Satan, at times of vulnerability. It’s not up to us to patch up the cracks but, rather let the Living Water flow into and out of our broken vessels, it’s not up to me, beyond saying yes to Him.
2 Cor 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
In Him,
Ron Mathre