Excerpt from Exodus 15:22-27

"And the people complained against Moses, saying, 'What shall we drink?'.  He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet."

Reflection by Quinn G. Caldwell

Have you noticed how many of the stories in the Bible revolve around water?  Seas, wells, floods, rivers, bitter water, holy water, living water.  The biblical storytellers had water on the brain because they needed to think about it pretty much all the time just to survive.  In their mostly arid homelands, they had to haul their water when at home and search for water when abroad.  Once they found it, they had to make sure it was drinkable, or they could be in big trouble.

My guess is the average Daily Devotional reader can't relate.  Most of us are never thirsty for longer than it takes to walk to the faucet, and don't think twice about whether our water's safe, unless we know of a specific threat nearby.

But most of the people in the world are more like the biblical authors. They spend their days searching for and carrying and purifying water.  Much of the world would give anything for a magic stick that provided them with sweet water.

Here's what our God does: pours water out in the desert.  Here's what our God does: takes the water that's undrinkable, and turns it into the sweet water of life.  Here's what our God does: sends her people out to do the same.

To learn about drinking water in the United States, visit the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site. To help bring clean living water to the world, visit www.thewaterproject.org.

Prayer

God, grant me a draught of your living water, and so fill me up that I overflow into your world.  Amen.

About the Author Quinn G. Caldwell, a United Church of Christ minister, is the co-author, with Curtis J. Preston, of the Unofficial Handbook of the United Church of Christ, published by The Pilgrim Press.

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