No Agua?

The question is not so much “What if we ran out of water?” but “What if there was no such thing as water?” Think about it. What if God had never created it? Try and imagine your life without liquid. It’s crazy.

The first thing I do every morning is drink a glass of water. Coming in a close second or third is taking a shower. Then off to make coffee, maybe boil some water and make oatmeal for breakfast. Yesterday, I washed some clothes and ran the dishwasher. When I drove to the post office, my windshield had some specs on it (don’t get me started on my obsession with a clean windshield…I’m workin’ on it!) so I pulled the lever on the steering column and washed it off. Oh yea, then I had to put some gas in the car. It’s starting to look a little dirty, so I’ll probably go the car wash this afternoon. I haven’t been feeling too well this week so I went to the doc and one of the first things he told me to do was to drink more fluids.

What if there were no such things as rain? We wouldn’t have anything to talk about!! The weather report would practically be the same every day. He wouldn’t even have to say, “It’s going to be dry again today” because we wouldn’t even have a word for “dry”. That would be like saying “There will be air to breathe today”. Duh.

There would be no oceans. Would the charm and excitement of “living on the coast” be lost if there was no coast - nothing but land stretching into more and more land? Would New York, Miami, San Diego, Los Angeles, or Seattle be less inviting and romantic if they occupied the same kind of terrain as any other landlocked city in the world?

I went to the headquarters of Living Water International here in Houston on Tuesday to meet their staff and share a few minutes of devotional thought with them. I had been introduced to LWI at a gala event last month – gala, now there’s a really manly word. Let’s just say it was a really nice dinner with a lot of people at a big ballroom at a nice hotel. There.

I don’t think I could adequately describe what LWI does around the world so I would encourage you to visit their website. But in a nutshell this is it. LWI sends teams of laymen and technicians all over the world to drill, repair and maintain water wells. They provide fresh water to people that have no access to such a vital element of daily living. While we might take for granted turning on the tap and getting a drink, much of the rest of the world has no understanding of such a luxury. Buying water in bottles (from France??) at the local gas station would be a strange concept for sure. The cost of such refreshment even boggles my mind. I still don’t understand how bottled water cost more per ounce than gasoline. Something is economically askew.

Unclean water is the major cause of disease and poverty in many countries. The cost of drilling and maintaining simple wells is amazingly low. They have also developed a simple filter that contaminated water can be poured through – it comes out clean, much like the process of ground water seeping through the layers of soil, sand and rock then reaching aquifers below the surface of the earth. LWI and their supporters are angels of mercy in these communities. The wells are the central focal points of life in many of them. These wells are the most obvious indicators of a vibrant, healthy and growing local culture.

Along with the obvious benefits of the wells providing a healthy water supply for a community, LWI also teaches the locals citizens how to maintain the equipment. It helps give them ownership by giving them responsibility.

Because the leadership, from the founding of LWI to present day, came from a spiritual burden to help the world, their hearts for Christ move them to share His Word as they go about putting action to their faith and conviction. When Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10 -

And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

He was most likely referring to a cup of, not only cool water but fresh, cool water. In that day, a valuable refreshment for sure.

Be thankful for small blessings. Around the world, the definition of the “small and large” of such blessings is very different. We all have much to be thankful for. I hope your Thanksgiving season stretches far beyond the dinner table next Thursday.

Bless you all.

Wayne