Cold Water or a Polluted Well?

“Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” (Proverbs 25:25 – 26)

The Church of Jesus Christ exists for three primary reasons; to worship God (John 4:23 – 24), to build itself up in Christ, bearing His image (Ephesians 4:11 – 16; Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:25-29), and to make disciples of all peoples (Matthew 28:18 – 20).

The Gospel is “like cold water to a thirsty soul,” coming as it does from a “far country” – the throne of God. And yet, with souls thirsty all around us, are we sharing the Gospel? Or are we keeping the cold water for ourselves? Are there people dying of thirst around us? Of course there are. Souls are parched, minds are wilted, hearts are shriveled. And yet, the Church, more often than not, passes people by as the priest and Levite passed the suffering man on the road to Jericho by (Luke 10:30 – 37) by walking on the “other side of the road.”

Do we think that if we pretend not to “see” the souls of others that we are not responsible? Do we think that if we just “happen” to be walking on the other side of the road that we are under no obligation to love the suffering man or woman or child? These are the thoughts of either a child or of a callous narcissistic man or woman…these are not the thoughts of Christ.

There is a mysterious dynamic about the cold water we have to share; when we live lives of sharing the living water of the Gospel (John 4:13 – 14; 7:37 – 39) flowing from the throne of God (Revelation 22:1) the water within us flows gently and powerfully at the same time and that living water is fresh and cool and clear. However, when we fail to offer the refreshing water of Jesus Christ to others, the water within us assumes a lukewarmness (Revelation 3:15 – 16) that is alien to its Source and that no one can drink from until by confession and repentance the Holy Spirit restores it to its Gospel purity.

How desperately we need the Word of God in order to share the Word of God. We need the Word of God living daily within us to form our souls, our entire beings, into the image of Jesus Christ and to keep us from the “stains of the world” (James 1:27; John 13:5 – 11; Psalm 1). The Word of God not only molds our hearts and minds, it filters our souls, separating the clean from the unclean, the unhealthy from the healthy (Hebrews 4:12), revealing Jesus Christ to us, who is the Word of God (John 1:1 – 5; Revelation 19:13).

When we, the Church, do not obey all that Jesus Christ has taught us (Matthew 28:18 – 20), what do we become but an unclean spring and a toxic well – no one can drink from us without becoming ill. Sadly, just as in the natural world people can be raised on polluted drinking water and often not realize it, so we can be raised drinking polluted water for our souls and not realize it for it is all that we have ever known.

When we are not faithful to the Word of God and our Lord Jesus Christ we become a polluted people. When we drink of the cup of the world, of the culture of our age and generation, when we bring the idols of fallen humanity into the Temple of God (Ephesians 2:19 – 22) we not only desecrate the Temple, we desecrate our temples and the water within our temples (2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1; 1 Corinthians 10:14 - 22) and no one can drink from us without sharing in our pollution.

In a time when clean drinking water is at a premium, are we attempting to be like the world in order to appeal to the world? If so we are fools; fools to exchange the glory of God for the glory of corruptible man (Romans 1:22 – 23; 1 Corinthians 1:18 - 31).

Let us be good stewards of the grace and Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us guard the purity of the Gospel and the Word of God. Let us exalt the glory of God and the beauty of living in His Presence. Let us give someone a drink of cold water from a distance country today.