Living Water
It's a rainy Friday afternoon, and little Rachel Anne is sleeping on my chest as I type. We spent the morning looking out the window and listening to the raindrops pounding the pavement outside. Rachel Anne loves water--there's not much she enjoys more than splashing in her bathtub in the sink, or hearing me wash the dishes and watching the faucet run. As we watched the rain come down, she started making her little cooing and babytalk noises, and we started having a conversation.
"Look, Rachel Anne--see all the water? That's called rain--it falls down from the sky. Did you know that God made the rain? He makes the water come down from up there so that everything will live and grow. Everything needs water to live; if God didn't send us the water, then we would die. All the plants and animals would die, too. Nothing can grow without water."
As a little girl, I loved to splash in the puddles. I didn't like getting in the ocean, or even swimming in a pool, but I loved thunderstorms and rainy days. I had a pink frilly umbrella with my name embroidered on it, and a pink raincoat; I loved to stomp around in the rain and sing. Even when I got older, I loved to walk in the rain--in college, I would take the path past the dorms and around the soccer fields and talk to God, letting the gentle rain wash away the stress of the week. I would come back dripping wet, but it was worth it!
Maybe having my own little girl now has reminded me about how much fun the little things in life are. And maybe being freshly aware of the little things in life has awakened in me a heightened sensitivity to the bigger things--the eternal things--in life.
Jesus describes Himself as the "Living Water." He came down from heaven for the purpose of giving life--eternal life--to all who trust in Him. To those who follow Him, He continually pours Himself out through the truth in His Word, bringing life and strength and health and cleansing.
Talking to Rachel Anne about the rain this morning, I was reminded again that Christ is my Living Water. I need him every day; He is not an "extra" or a "bonus," but He is my life. He is essential. Like my tiny tea rose plant on the patio, I need to be getting water from reading the Bible and communing with God every day. Getting nutrients from the soil is good, just as getting wisdom and insight from godly friends and family, or reading other study resources is good; but, these things are only supplemental, and can never replace or substitute for water--for the Lord.
I need to be more faithful in going to Scripture for water every day. I want to be be like a little child--fascinated by the raindrops, straining to hear the water running out, delighting in splashing in puddles, walking bareheaded in the rain and letting it wash away the dirt from the day. And I want to teach our daughter to do that, too.
Jesus answered and said unto her, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." ~John 4:13-14
~Kirsten
"Look, Rachel Anne--see all the water? That's called rain--it falls down from the sky. Did you know that God made the rain? He makes the water come down from up there so that everything will live and grow. Everything needs water to live; if God didn't send us the water, then we would die. All the plants and animals would die, too. Nothing can grow without water."
As a little girl, I loved to splash in the puddles. I didn't like getting in the ocean, or even swimming in a pool, but I loved thunderstorms and rainy days. I had a pink frilly umbrella with my name embroidered on it, and a pink raincoat; I loved to stomp around in the rain and sing. Even when I got older, I loved to walk in the rain--in college, I would take the path past the dorms and around the soccer fields and talk to God, letting the gentle rain wash away the stress of the week. I would come back dripping wet, but it was worth it!
Maybe having my own little girl now has reminded me about how much fun the little things in life are. And maybe being freshly aware of the little things in life has awakened in me a heightened sensitivity to the bigger things--the eternal things--in life.
Jesus describes Himself as the "Living Water." He came down from heaven for the purpose of giving life--eternal life--to all who trust in Him. To those who follow Him, He continually pours Himself out through the truth in His Word, bringing life and strength and health and cleansing.
Talking to Rachel Anne about the rain this morning, I was reminded again that Christ is my Living Water. I need him every day; He is not an "extra" or a "bonus," but He is my life. He is essential. Like my tiny tea rose plant on the patio, I need to be getting water from reading the Bible and communing with God every day. Getting nutrients from the soil is good, just as getting wisdom and insight from godly friends and family, or reading other study resources is good; but, these things are only supplemental, and can never replace or substitute for water--for the Lord.
I need to be more faithful in going to Scripture for water every day. I want to be be like a little child--fascinated by the raindrops, straining to hear the water running out, delighting in splashing in puddles, walking bareheaded in the rain and letting it wash away the dirt from the day. And I want to teach our daughter to do that, too.
Jesus answered and said unto her, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." ~John 4:13-14
~Kirsten
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