Living water

Being from Minnesota, I understand the importance of having running water in the wintertime. In "Boyhood and Beyond," author Bob Schultz relates how living water is important in one's spiritual life:

At 2:30 one morning I awoke. The water had stopped! Without hesitation I jumped out of bed. Throwing on warm clothes, I went out into the night. First, I crawled under the trailer and squeezed all the hoses checking for a hard spot that would indicate a frozen blockage. The hoses seemed okay. Then I ran two hundred yards down the hill to the pump house looking for trouble there.

Unable to find any frozen pipes I ran back up to the trailer for a heater. . .down to the pump house to plug it in. . .up to the trailer for a lamp to put by the hoses. . .down to the pump to check for any progress.

I raced back and forth knowing that the longer it took to find the frozen block, the colder all the lines would become.

On one trip up the road I stopped my busyness and looked up into the sky. The stars were brilliant. The night was so cold and calm that I could hear my heart beat. In the stillness God spoke to my spirit:

'When your water lines begin to freeze, you jump out of bed immediately, even in the middle of the night. It is important for you to have drinking water. When the Living Water in your heart begins to freeze, are you that quick to get up and attend to the trouble?'

I had been busy lately. The cares of the world were gradually freezing the water of my heart. Slowly, one degree at a time, I was growing cold toward God and wasn't doing anything about it. I knew the water was slowing, but spiritually I continued to lie in bed. On that freezing night, halfway between the trailer and the pump house, His presence melted my heart, one degree at a time. He showed me again the purpose of life, reminded me of His love, and drew me to His warm side.

Let God in to your heart. Open yourself up to Him. Let down your walls.