Water for Life - Pt 3

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side— let Israel now say— if it had not been the LORD who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters. Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped! Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124 ESV). To be accurate I must say that, in Scripture, water isn’t always a cleansing, life-giving substance. Sometimes it represents danger and death. Who can forget the story of Noah and God destroying the earth in the flood (cf. Genesis 6:17); or, how about the experience of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea on dry ground (cf. Exodus 14:23-28)? The waters destroyed countless people in both instances. In today’s reading, dangerous water rages and floods, threatening to sweep the people away. This is a part of the picture of baptism. It symbolizes the mercifully violent role in scrubbing away our old self in order to make way for new life in Christ. We can easily see that water can be dangerous. For example, water can be dammed up or it can flash flood. Stagnant pond water is dangerous when it collects disease and turns undrinkable. Raging flood waters leave scars in the earth as they erode away land. Our own lives can inflict these same kinds of wounds. It is easy to become like stagnant water by not extending Christian love to our neighbors. Other times, our evangelical zealousness is like a flash flood. Our efforts for “mission” can scar our neighbors and ourselves, whom God has formed as people from the dust of the earth (cf. Genesis 2:7). But like God’s promises, water can also be healing and provide nourishment for life. We ought to be a healing agent in the lives of our neighbors by extending to them the same love that we first received from God. I’m sitting outside writing this devotional. Just in front of me is the herb garden I built recently. It has ten different herbs planted in the boxes I built. Even though these plants don’t require a lot of water, they need more moisture than if they were planted in the ground. The soil just dries more quickly in these planters. And, they’ll tell you when it’s time to water. They get a little “droopy.” As soon as you water, they perk up perfectly. I have found people to be like that. Sometimes they get a little “droopy.” Life has just dried their lives with the heat of difficulty and hardship. We can be the water to perk them up if we will just speak words of life and promise. Let’s determine to respond to the thirsty souls around us with the grace of God’s presence and promise of life.