I spent some time this past weekend installing a rain water catch system for our shop building. The new system will gather water from the roof of the building and route it to an elevated rain barrel. The barrel then supplies water to Lauri’s potting bench and the sink in my shop. I like the idea of using rain water — it is an environmental way to use freely provided water, and it keeps water away from the building. So, for the first time, we have water at our shop building.
Readily available water is such a convenient feature! Water for Lauri to pot plants… water for me to wash out paintbrushes and dirty hands… and perhaps the occasional cut that I am prone to incur… ok… maybe just a bit more than “occasional”. Of course, while water might be a luxury in a shop, we know that water is life to the living. Every living thing needs water to survive.
One of my favorite stories from the life of Jesus took place in the country of Samaria when Jesus and his disciples were traveling from Judea to Galilee. Stopping just outside of the City of Sychar, Jesus sat down by a well to rest while his disciples went to purchase food. Jesus was hot and weary from traveling… and I would imagine had quite the dry throat from the dust of the road.
As he sat by the well, he felt a nudge in his spirit, and cracking open one eye he watched a Samaritan woman approaching the well at a time of day when she knew no one else should be there. A woman with quite the past… a woman living with much pain… a woman who lived as an outcast.
I can imagine Jesus smiling as he formed the words in his mind that would lead her to experience the first hope she had known in a long time… a hope that would change her life forever. Ignoring the man sitting by the well as custom would dictate, she began to lower her bucket into the well to retrieve her water, and heard those life changing words… “Could I have a drink?”
Jesus’ simple question led to a conversation that would end in her receiving the Living Water that Jesus provided — not only for her — but for her entire village as well. I admit, I have often reflected on this encounter with Jesus. If I could time-travel, this conversation would be at the top of my list! I love how Jesus brought this lonely, rejected woman into His Kingdom. The compassion and forgiveness freely offered to her must have felt like drinking an ice-cold glass of water on a hot and humid day. Oh, so refreshing.
So many people in our world today need to experience the refreshing of their spirit that the Living Water of Jesus can provide. May we be like Jesus… who laid aside his weariness to love someone that others did not…
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