Wednesday Reflection -- Water

Wednesday, June 13 -- Old Testament Jerusalem Walk

        Today reminded me not to take for granted something I take for granted every day...water.  There is water all around me and always available to me -- especially back at home.  I turn on the faucet and I can get it cold or hot.  I turn on the shower and down it pours.  I turn on the sprinkler to dump it on my lawn.  I can drive 30 minutes and gaze over the horizon at one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world.  And I get kind of irritated when it rains on my outdoor plans.

        Getting rained out certainly isn't an issue here in Jerusalem.  It is sunny and hot each day.  No need for an umbrella here during the summer.  That is nice when you are a tourist...not so nice when you are King David living 1000 BC or King Hezekiah in 800 BC or anyone living here for those many, many centuries before indoor plumbing was invented.

        The visit to and history of Hezekiah's tunnel made me reflect on the value of water.  Here in the Old Ancient City there was just one spring providing water to the whole city -- the spring of Gihon in the Kidron Valley.  On my extremely hot walk this morning I could pause and take a drink from my water bottle whenever wanted to, and I could refill it at various locations throughout the day.  For thousands of years that wasn't the case.  In this summer heat, everyone had to make the trek to get their water from this spring outside the city wall and carry it back home again.  That water source was of immense value.

        So when Hezekiah realized that Sanacarib would ultimate lay siege to Jerusalem, protecting that water source was a top priority.  The amount of effort that was put into channeling that water into the safe confines of the city wall is proof enough.  1750 feet of tunneling under the city through solid bedrock to capture that water is a marvel.  As I walked through that tunnel today I couldn't help but feel like it was liquid gold flowing around my feet and ankles.  The pool of Silom at the end of the tunnel was not just a cool oasis in the summer heat, but a life-giving supply of God's grace right before them.  God used this water along with his miraculous power to rescue his people when Sanacarib did arrive to take the city of Jerusalem.  And he has continued to keep his people alive with his precious gift of water in both profound and simple ways.

        When I turn on the faucet, when I take a shower, when I jump in the late, when I take a drink from my water bottle while walking the streets of Jerusalem in the heat of the day again tomorrow I will let it be a reminder to me to give thanks to God for his most-often-taken-for-granted gift of water.  And I will remember again that it isn't a coincidence that God used water, that most precious life-giving gift, to mark his children as his own through baptism.