Blood, Bear Grylls, & Living Water
"And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river."
(Exodus 7:24)
A few years ago I frequently watched the tv show, "Man vs. Wild." Bear Grylls would parachute into some remote location, and then set out to survive in the wild. One time, I remember him showing how to filter contaminated water. He'd come upon a stagnant pool of water. Instead of risking sickness by drinking directly from the pool, he dug int the sand next to the pool. The sand served as a filter, he said. The resulting water was a bit cloudy & murky, but it was clean. So I tucked that little bit of info away for the next time I had to survive in the wild. ;)
Today I was reading the Exodus story with the start of the 10 Plagues. Quick recap: the Israelites had moved to Egypt to survive a famine (well, it was Jacob's family of 12 sons & 1 daughter plus their families... but they'd eventually become the Israelites). 300+ years later, they are a numerous people. The Egyptian Pharaoh decides they're a threat, and sets out to kill all the newborn baby boys (and make life generally miserable for the adults). They cry out to God. God calls Moses to lead them out of Egypt. But Pharaoh won't release them, so God has to 'persuade' him. Hence, the 10 Plagues.
Plague #1 was turning the Nile River to blood. The fish died. There was a horrendous stench. And no one could drink from the river. I'm not going to try and "science" this story (though some scholars talk about an algae 'superbloom' that occurs and the river turns red). Suffice it to say that the water was unusable, and the people were suffering. So they pulled a "Bear Grylls" and dug next to the Nile River, using the sand as a filter, and were able to drink the water.
A few thousands years later, Jesus would tell people that he was "living water," and invited ALL to drink deeply from his life. This was water that never gets contaminated. Water that truly satisfies. Water that quenches the deepest thirsts we have in life. We humans have a hard time remembering that (heck, even we Christians have a hard time remembering to look exclusively to Jesus!). We "thirst" after all sorts of things, hoping to find contentment: love, security, entertainment, pleasure, fame, power, etc. We'll dig in the sand to find whatever drinkable water we can get our hands on. But Jesus reminds us that he is our SOURCE. He can provide all we need for joy and peace. If we'll be willing to align our lives with His... seek His direction & guidance... and trust that He will see us through everything. That's water worth drinking, don't you think?!?