Cool, Clear Water

photo by manu schwendener on Unsplash 

...to the thirsty I will freely give from the fountain of the water of life.  --Revelation 21:6

There's an old, old cowboy song in which Marty Robbins longs for "cool, clear water" as he's riding a horse across the vast, dry, desert wilderness  (listen here, read lyrics here). When water is scarce to the point of literally dying of thirst, the high value of water is quite clear.  But when this cowboy gets water, it will likely be from a stream or river flowing freely. He won't need to pay anyone to get a drink, even if the river is on someone's property.

In most restaurants, if we ask for a glass of water, it won't be listed on our bill at the end of the meal. It's given freely, even though the restaurant had to pay for that water, whether it came from the faucet or a bottle.  I wonder if that's because a precedent was set with this verse: 

"...if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward" (Matthew 10:42).

But we have an odd relationship with water.  In the movie Chinatown (1974) we see people willing to murder to get water for Southern California.  In some places, water rights are as valuable as property.  And yet we use this precious commodity as if it were...water.  We even say that someone who spends too much is treating money like water.

We will pay more to get better water in convenient plastic bottles, but the water that comes through our faucets is often used without thought, even though we pay for it.  Water seems like an unlimited resource, but there is a finite amount, unless someone figures out how to stabilize and use black holes (read more about this here).

If you read yesterday's blog, you'll know that I'm kind of stuck on the subject of water and the conflicting ways we use it and value/devalue it.  Investopedia says water is a commodity, and that shortages lead to increased investment opportunities.  (They probably haven't ready Matthew 10:42.)

In the Bible, water is often symbolic for the Holy Spirit. Luke 11:13 says God gives us the Holy Spirit  freely. All we have to do is ask.  And in Exodus 17, we see that God gave water to Israel when Moses asked, also for free.

I doubt that water is going to become as free as air and the Holy Spirit, but we can pay more attention to how we use it, and be sure to give thanks to the One who gives us everything.

Thanks, God.