For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25: 35 - 40
Today, March 22nd is World Water Day.
Water. We can't survive without it. But 1.1 billion people worldwide don't have access to clean drinking water. We can walk into our kitchen, or bathroom, turn on the faucet and get a nice cold drink of water. What a luxury! Most of us flush our toilets several times a day without any thought. Every time we flush our toilet 2 or 3 gallons of water literally "go down the drain". No biggie right?
Wrong.
For a billion people in our world, 2 or 3 gallons of water is all they have for an entire day's use. That's it. Two or three gallons of water. For cooking, cleaning, laundry, drinking, bathing - for a family. And, that two or three gallons of water isn't necessarily clean. Often times the water has to be carried several miles from an unclean water source. 2.6 billion people don't have access to proper hygiene and sanitation. So even though they might have access to water, that water could make them terribly ill or even worse, kill them.
So, what can we do about it?
Make yourself aware, make your family and friends aware. Make a donation to an organization like Samaritan's Purse (http://www.samaritanspurse.org) or World Vision (http://www.worldvision.org) - which are working around the world to educate people about proper hygiene and sanitation and to help create systems for providing clean water to these organizations.
Take a 3 gallon challenge. Go to the store and buy 3 gallons of water. Limit yourself to using just those 3 gallons of water for an entire day. For everything. Most of us American's use between 50 and 150 gallons a water daily! If you REALLY want to challenge yourself - carry those three gallons of water home several miles. But not in a backpack! Because that's reality for many people around the world.!
Have a water bottle fundraiser! Fill your empty water bottles with change and challenge your friends and family to do the same! Then donate the money you've raised to an organization committed to providing clean water in the world. What a great way to bring awareness and have fun!
Pray about it. Be thankful that we live in a country where 100% of our population has access to clean drinking water. Pray about how you can help. The Bible has over 620 references to water. I'll leave you with a few and a quote from a book I've been reading.
*But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! -Amos 5:24
*Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink -Genesis 21:19
*The poor and homeless are desperate for water, their tongues parched and no water to be found.
But I'm there to be found, I'm there for them, and I, God of Israel, will not leave them thirsty.
I'll open up rivers for them on the barren hills, spout fountains in the valleys.
I'll turn the baked-clay badlands into a cool pond, the waterless waste into splashing creeks.
I'll plant the red cedar in that treeless wasteland, also acacia, myrtle, and olive.
I'll place the cypress in the desert, with plenty of oaks and pines.
Everyone will see this. No one can miss it— unavoidable, indisputable evidence
That I, God, personally did this. It's created and signed by The Holy of Israel. -Isaiah 41: 17 -20 (The Message)
*Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” -John 4:10
*And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded. -Matthew 10:42
-Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
“I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”
Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!”
Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” -John 4:1 - 29
"In the Old Testament God is referred to as 'living water' (Jer. 2:13; 17:13). In the New Testament Jesus says that he can give streams of 'living water' (John 4:10) to those who are thirsty. We like to talk about the significance of the metaphor, but somehow the image of the Holy Spirit as a stream of living water must be harder to appreciate when the only water source available to you is a contaminated, stagnant pool." -From "Zealous Love" by Mike & Danae Yankoski (http://www.zealouslove.org)
Think about that the next time you get a drink of water....
