WHEN THE WELL GOES DRY

Heaven help us when we allow the well of God’s living water go dry! We need His life-sustaining, growth-promoting Word and Spirit constantly. Not for a mere hour on Sunday morning or a two-minute devotion over breakfast, but daily. Hourly. By the minute and sometimes by the second.

Eternal Perspectives               by Sally Bair

The water well

Back on the farm, our well didn’t produce enough water at times, so my dad filled up our cream cans at our neighbor’s place. They had plenty of water 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. It’s no wonder my dad gave up dairy farming after a few years.

Because of the unpredictability of our water supply, we always made sure to keep extra containers on hand. As a teenager, I considered the problem more than an inconvenience and worthy of many complaints. My parents never complained about the lack. They seemed 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 precious commodity. 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 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.