Imagine walking hours a day to get water. And this is not clean, fresh, bottled water like you find at any convenience store in America. The water you carry long distances to sustain your life is dirty and full of disease. You take a risk every time you drink it. But you take an even greater risk if you go without it. That is the reality for millions of people around the globe, especially in third world/undeveloped countries.
I recently thought about this reality while reading an article about the people in Kenya. The article chronicled the work of Blood:Water Mission and its efforts to build wells in needy communities.
Here in the United States, we take water for granted. But in Africa, people have to struggle sometimes to get water. Some people dig wholes and wait for rain water to collect. Others walk miles each day. All I have to do is walk ten feet and turn on the faucet.
Jeremy Cowart of the Blood:Water Mission wrote, "This was the first well site we visited in Kenya. This simple well had changed their whole lives. Their skin looked healthier their clothes looked clean. And there were no repots of water-related diseases, which is one of the main causes of death."
Did you know that $1 is all it takes to provide clean drinking water to one African for a whole year? Wow, that makes me think about each time I go and pay a buck for a soft drink.
Going beyond just the call to help those in need, I see a great story behind the water situation in Africa. Many people there walk for miles to obtain dirty water each day because that is the only readily available source. But right underneath their feet is clean drinking water if they only were to dig deep enough to get it. Day by day, many villagers bring home water that slowly makes them sick or even kills them. If they were only able to dig deep, they would find life.
I believe that many people are like that when it comes to the living water that Jesus gives. They walk miles and miles to drink filthy water. They do it on a regular basis even though they take a chance with each they drink. They don't know any better, and they don't think that they have any way to get at the pure water flowing underneath their feet. God wants us to dig deep to taste of his living spring. But it is so much easier to follow the crowds to the dirty water because it is easy to see and collect. God is calling people from all over the globe to dig deep and find life. We will find God when we seek Him with our whole heart.
Oh Father, forgive me for drinking polluted spiritual water. Help me to know where the good spots to dig are. Root out any desire to follow the crowds to the things that are convenient but far less than your best. May my life be pure. May springs of living water flow forth from my life. May I be one who digs deep to find your best. Guide me on how to help others find living water too. Amen!
