It’s good to feel that summer is here. Blue skies, warm sunshine, hot days and even a cricket team that is exciting to watch! I’m not the best at taking care of myself when the hot weather comes along. I have a tendency to forget to put sunscreen on my thinning hairline so end up with a sore head, but worse still is that I do not drink enough and end up with a sore head in other ways.
Unfortunately, I’m prone to giving myself bad headaches during the summer months simply because I do not drink enough on hot days. I should be drinking 2 litres a day (10 glasses of water) in order to keep a healthy fluid balance according to the NHS. Alas, I don’t and I end up dehydrating myself. So, as I write there is a glass of water on my desk and it will be replaced once empty!
To provide someone with a drink is such a basic act and yet is always well received. When considering random acts of kindness you cannot do much better than offering a cool glass of water on a hot day. You may recall a few weeks ago there was rioting in the US city of Baltimore following the shooting a young black man by the police. Among the moments captured by cameras was a heart-warming photo of a young boy passing out water bottles to a line of police officers in riot gear. It’s a simple gesture and yet is a beautiful show of humanity and compassion.
In John 4, we read that Jesus is journeying through Samaria and at the town of Sychar he sits down to rest his weary body at Jacob’s well. Along comes a Samaritan woman and he asks her for a drink. Rather, than respond with compassion to give a drink she raises an issue. Jesus’ response is simple - “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water … Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jesus used "water" as a symbol for the Holy Spirit and he spoke of the Spirit flowing through the lives of those who were to ask for it. In the same way that I do not drink enough water on a hot day I often wonder if I seek enough of the ‘living water’, the Holy Spirit each and every day. Is there enough of this living water flowing through me or am I a little dehydrated? The good news is that we have a God who is always on hand to provide a drink of the living water. Pass me a glass!
Every blessing, Major Adrian