GIFT OF LIVING WATER
by Erwin Bourne—April 1, 2002
The Bible offers us many accounts of man’s demand for
water. I have been told that man cannot live after
missing four heartbeats. He cannot live over four
minutes without air, four days without water, and over
40 days without food. The Samaritan woman came daily
to draw water from Jacob’s well. Jesus told her,
“People soon become thirsty again after drinking this
water. But the water I give them takes away thirst
altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within
them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:13 NLT).
I, being a diabetic for 40 years, have developed an
unusual demand for cold water. The old Western
cowboy’s song goes: “Each day I’ve chased the barren
waste without a taste of water: cool, clear water.”
When Hagar, Sarai’s maid, fled from her mistress, the
angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in
the wilderness (Geneses 16:10 KJV). Water is God’s
gift of life for the body.
In the wilderness of Interior Alaska, I learned the
secrets of finding water when the temperature dipped
to minus fifty. My trap line followed the creeks,
though frozen solid. However, deep, deep below the
surface the spring water would build up pressure which
forced tricklets to the surface. These would
instantly freeze, but the hidden pressure kept forcing
more water to the surface. An ice fountain would
slowly build up to several feet in height—but the
trickles of water continued to the top filling the ice
basin with water. With my mittened hand I would brush
off the several inches of insulating snow, bend and
drink to my satisfaction. — Ice-cold water!
In Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus, the
rich man shouted, “Father Abraham, have some pity!
Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in
water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in
these flames” (Lk. 16:24). But there was a great
chasm separating them.
When King David and his mighty men were encamped in
the stronghold of a cave, and a Philistine detachment
was in Bethlehem, the king said, “Oh, how I would love
some of that good water from the well of Bethlehem.”
You must read it yourself from I Chronicles 11:17
through 19. Thanks!
—Erwin and Jean Bourne