The Search for Good Water

Scripture

Ex. 7:14   Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.  15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the river bank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake.  16 Say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.” But until now you have not listened.’  17 Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD.” See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood.

Observation

The water of the Nile was vitally important to the life of the Egyptians, just as water is important to all life. We need both physical and spiritual water and contamination of either will be life threatening. The Egyptians had shed innocent Hebrew blood when they had determined to kill the small children. That river had been stained with their blood and now God made them drink from the bloodied waters of their sin.

It is the power of God that turns the bloody water into the drinkable water that brings life. It is the power of the Messiah who can turn water into wine, or wine into a symbol for new life in Christ. In the physical sense human blood in the drinking water, living in the flesh, was destructive. In the spiritual sense the presence of the blood of Christ turned the ordinary into the extraordinary, the water was transformed into living water which provides for life eternal. 

Application

When you go to a restaurant these days you can become overwhelmed with the options of water which may be purchased. All kinds of bottled water may be available, both still and sparkling, heavy in minerals and light. Some quite expensive and other quite cheap. I pretty much just like good tasting tap water but I do like a bottled water from Armenia called Jermuk, however it’s rare to ever find it outside of it’s homeland. But the variety of options is a vivid example of what we do spiritually — as we search for good water.

The Egyptians were hung up on the “source” of their water, which was the Nile. These were the material and human resources which were directly in front of them on a daily basis. Our temptation is to look for the “source” of what we need right in front of us. The Egyptians had no idea what God might be capable of providing.

I’m not sure we have any idea of what God can really provide for us for we, too, find ourselves on the journey, looking for good water. We are tempted to try out all the things that the world places in front of us, failing to realize that the really good water is plain and simple and comes from God. For all the fancy bottling of water in the world, often the best someone can find is right in front of them, coming out of their own tap. Sadly, we aren’t attracted to that water because it doesn’t come in a fancy bottle! Isn’t that the way the world works — enticing us by fancy packaging?

We need the living water found in Christ. This is transformative! This is good water.

Prayer

Lord, please keep me from the fancy bottling of the world and may I enjoy what you have to offer.  Amen.