More Water

Thanks to my friend Dale for allowing me to post this. This is a devotional he did for a Christian Farmers dinner a couple of years ago.

Water; when we have too much of it we grumble. When we don’t have enough of it we pray. The rest of the time we scarcely think about it. Water has been the cause of more wars than oil or gold.
The estimated supply of water on the Earth is 330 million cubic miles. Each cubic mile contains over a trillion gallons of water. 97% of the water is contained in the oceans. The Great Lakes contain 1/5 of all the liquid surface water in the world. One guess is that there is enough groundwater beneath North America to cover the continent with a sheet of water 100 feet deep. One inch of rain drops 100 tons of water on a 100 acre farm.
Water is one of the most unique elements in the natural world. It exists in all three states; solid, liquid and gaseous. It is most dense at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. That is why ice floats in water. If it didn’t that would make for a lot of wet ice fishermen.
We use water for nourishment, power generation, recreation, comfort, cleaning and transport. Most of us have ancestors who came to North America via waterways. In south-western Ontario we have abundant water around us, above us and beneath us.
The topic of water pervades the pages of the Bible. It is mentioned at the start; the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). It is mentioned at the end; come whoever is thirsty…take the free gift of the water of life (Revelation 22:17).
Water destroyed the world in the days of Noah. Joseph was tossed into a dry cistern, pulled out and sold as a slave into the land of the Nile. Moses turned those waters into blood to deliver the house of Israel. He then parted the waters of the Red Sea to lead the children of God out of bondage and Joshua parted the waters of the Jordan to return the Hebrew children to the Promised Land. Moses struck the rock to bring forth a spring of refreshing water in the desert and consecrated the basin which held the water of the tabernacle which ceremonially cleaned the priesthood of Aaron before they approached the altar of God.
Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days. People can survive over a month without food but will go mad and die of thirst in a week’s time. Water, in baptism, is the symbol of the new birth of Christian faith. Many of the disciples were fishermen and earned their livelihood on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus turned the wedding waters of Cana into wine, warned about floods and shifting foundations and thirsted upon the cross.
Yes, water is more abundant beyond all our finite comprehension. Yet the most precious water, in the eyes of God, is those tears of water shed by the repentant sinner. The Bible tells us that if we sow in tears we shall reap in joy (Psalm 126:5). The harlot who anointed Jesus with perfume and washed his feet with her tears was justified ahead of the self righteous Pharisee. We can laugh so heartily as to be moved to tears or mourn so deep to cry tears of sorrow. Even Jesus, before he knew he was to revive Lazarus, wept before the tomb of his friend.
We are surrounded by so much water we rarely give it our full appreciation. We will pray for our daily bread but without the water to grow the grains there would be no flour to bake the bread. Let us strive to be more thankful for our food and water for without water there would be no life.