Living
Water
Read:
John 4:4-15
Greetings
to our friends at Grosse Pointe from your friends at The AvenueChurch in Newton Abbot.
Twelve
months ago I moved into my new house – smaller, but not too small,
with a pretty garden. In the garden was a little pond covered in
algae but full of tadpoles, frogs, and newts, much to the delight of
two of my great-grandchildren. To one side was a large flat shrub
which overshadowed the pond, and limited the view of the pond from
the house. Thinking this might be dangerous with the little ones
about, I asked my good friend Chris to come and dig up the shrub for
me.
To
our amazement, it revealed a stone edifice with a hole in the top.
“Ah ha!” we thought, “a fountain,” time to call in Mr
Cockall, the pond-man. He came, looked and said, “Not, it’s not a
fountain but a waterfall.” Then he set to work – put the newts
and frogs in a holding tank, cleaned out the pond, repaired the pump,
refilled the pond, and added new water plants. Finally he switched on
the pump, and the waterfall sprang into action. No more algae and the
prospect of flowering plants in the Spring.
Now
as I walk thro’ the garden and hear the sound of splashing water or
look out from a window to see a blackbird drinking from the running
water or a robin bathing in the clear water of the pond, I am
reminded of Jesus’ promise to the Samaritan woman.
How
many of us are like my pond? Covered with the algae of worries,
anxieties, and pressures of the daily routine, our inner being not
functioning properly because our links with God are weak and hidden
beneath the detritus of the years is the silent waterfall. When Jesus
truly comes into our lives, He empties us, cleanses us, and
reconnects us to God, the source of all power, so that the living
water flows into our lives, purifying and beautifying us for His
service.
During
this time of Lent, why don’t we call in “THE pond-man” that
what He gives us becomes “a spring of water welling up to eternal
life.”
In
Christian love,
Dorothy
Williams
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