Water for Living or Living Water?

Dave water tank

Dave checking the water tank.

We returned to Mozambique last Tuesday, after our annual family conference in South Africa. With a suitcase full of dirty clothes and that greasy feeling you get from travelling, our first plan upon returning home was starting laundry and taking a shower. That is until we discovered our house’s water tank was empty. The only water we had was a partial barrel of rainwater we had collected earlier. Showers and laundry would have to wait.

Dave called the man who normally brings us water and he said he would be there the next morning. Late Wednesday afternoon we learned his truck had broken down, but he should be able to bring water Thursday. On Thursday afternoon he told us he didn’t have enough money to pay the mechanic. If we could give him an advance payment, he could come that afternoon. At this point we were smelly, the dishes were piling up, and we were rationing the dogs’ drinking water, so we agreed. Unfortunately, he arrived too late, so we’d have to wait until Friday. Mid-day Friday, I heard the welcome sound of his truck pull up outside our gate…and finally, we had water.

When you have water, you take it for granted. When you don’t, you realize just how much you depend on it. Most Mozambicans don’t have running water in their houses and have to carry buckets of water home. They never take it for granted. It reminded me of the woman drawing water at the well. She wanted physical water from Jesus, so she wouldn’t be thirsty or need to draw water again. But Jesus was offering “living water.” What a great reminder that I should yearn for the “living water” just as much as I yearn for water for living.

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