Offering Living Water to the Thirsty

We have just finished a long walk in the woods. Pink-cheeked children pile into the car with cries of, "Mom, I'm thirsty!" Usually, I anticipate this and have water bottles ready to go to hydrate little bodies thirsty from exertion. But what if we've left the water bottles at home? I could pull through a drive-thru and get them less-than-optimal soft drinks. We could find a drinking fountain in the park and get possibly contaminated water. Or just wait until we get home while whines rise from the back seat as the kids get thirstier. Lack of preparation can cause all sorts of problems for thirsty little children.

This is the way I've found it to be when approaching a lost world. I have the living water within me since the Holy Spirit has saved my soul. Yet there are days when I haven't prepared my heart and mind to dispense that water. Maybe I rushed through my devotions or skipped them in favor of a few more minutes of sleep. Maybe I let the "little irritations" wear away at me, and my attitude is less than the best.

Those are times when I meet that hurting person (be it an adult or one of the little people living in my home) and I have nothing satisfying to give them. My store is depleted. I have to make them wait until I run to the Father to get more. Or I have to leave them to get something spiritually deficient in the "drive-thru" or drinking fountain of the world.

I want to keep my supply of living water fresh, clean and pure moment by moment! Then, I'll have something to offer when my little one needs a drink of the Living Water.