March 18, 2009

Living Water

In the late summer of 1915 my great-grandparents homesteaded in southeastern Colorado. They settled on land where the prairie grass was high and water flowed in the creeks. Close to a small cottonwood tree they dug a pit and hit a spring that produced two barrels of water a day. Their dreams of ranching however were shattered once they discovered it was an unusually wet year. The spring consistently produced two barrels of water a day…but not a drop more. Because there lacked a sustainable source of water for a ranch, the homestead was abandoned. The spiritual life needs more than a cupful, bucketful or even a barrelful of living water. Jesus offers “…Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14b NIV)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gail;

-----We homestead for our spiritual lives on various grounds. Some of us are wise enough to look for water before choosing the ground, others just choose the ground for any variety of different reasons. I became determined early in my twenties to become a student of life, of course, not just any life, but true life. Curiously though, I chose accounting for a career homestead. I sensed there was some good water running through it. Granted, it was not water brimming with Scripture like my Dad’s trout farm brimmed with fish. But the basics of its ethical standards, integrity, objectivity, independence, and diligence flow through Scripture as well. Much of the Biblical insight the Lord has brought for my spiritual health was digested from the Word having been washed down with those waters.
-----We homestead parts of our lives on entertainment grounds, in friendship circles, and in the hobbies of our solitude. As homesteading in a career of illegal drug trafficking, or maybe prostitution, would be nearly bone dry, some areas of entertainment, circles of friends, and hobbies are also parched land. Then there are those areas having plenty of water, plenty of simply brackish water! As I spend more time with my Jehovah’s Witness client, I find there is water running in their fellowship, but it bursts with bitterness. The water found in even the best homestead for our spiritual life contains some amount of impurities. Many, many years ago, my Granddad Corey took a sip from the spring flowing in front of City Hall, then exclaimed, “If they had drilled it any deeper they’d have struck s#*t!”

Love you all,
Steve Corey