“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” John 7:37-37.
Too often, we take the quality and availability of our water for granted here in the U.S. As a child I remember being able to drink out of the pump near the barn. While working on a survey team in the Nebraska Sandhills we would go and fill our bottles with water directly from the cattle tanks on the prairie. Water is so precious, and that gift of water should always remind us of how truly precious is the gift of living water that Jesus shared with us.
The attached photo was taken at one of the Lutheran schools in Cap Haitian, where they are blessed to have a well. The children at school and people in the neighborhood can come and drink freely of this water. Our mission team members could also drink of this water, but only through a filtered water bottle lest they become ill.
There are some schools in Haiti that have a cistern that holds water that has either been brought in or was filled with rain water. There is a huge difference between a cistern and a well. A cistern is labor intensive and has to be filled with water from the outside. It is not self-renewing and can run dry. The wells in the Sandhills, and the one in the photo in Haiti are artesian wells and they have flowing water that bubbles up with its cool and refreshing blessing.
This same difference exists between a person trying to ‘be spiritual’ and a Spirit-filled person. When we become Christians, Jesus blesses us with his Spirit. That presence and power in our lives makes all the difference in the world. It is his Living Water inside of us, renewing us, refreshing us, empowering us, slaking our thirst, and giving us life. Living for Jesus is more than just a spiritual commitment on our part requiring our effort; it is also the gift and blessing of Jesus enabled by his Spirit.
Like the two girls and the missionary at the well in Haiti, we too are filled with Living Water inside of us, flowing through us as we share the news of our risen Savior Jesus Christ with the lost. Thank you for being a blessing to the children in Cap Haitian who share their living water and message of Hope with the lost and thirsty souls in their neighborhoods.
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay