Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
May 10, 2012

“Protecting Your Water Rights”
“Your spring water is for you and you only, not to be passed around among strangers.” – Proverbs 5:17 (The Message)

Spring water is water that is harvested from a natural spring. Unlike many forms of bottled water that are filtered and treated to remove impurities, natural spring water is considered to contain a beneficial level of minerals and is normally bottled directly at the source. In recent years, spring water has become available in a number of different retail outlets.
Part of the attraction of spring water is that it is often water that has moved to the surface from some type of underground water source. As such, the water is considered to be free of contaminants as well as unspoiled by the use of modern filtration techniques. Many proponents of spring water note that the liquid has a naturally refreshing taste that cannot be replicated by other types of water.
When we lived in Medford, approximately 30 miles to the west, right next to the highway was an artesian well that flowed freely 7 days a week…24 hours a day. The water was pristine, clear and wonderful! The land-owner on which the spring flowed had created a means for anyone who wanted could come and fill water containers free of charge. Once a month I would take at least a dozen gallon containers and fill them. The family at one point wanted to place a barrier around the well and charge for its use—but the owner refused and to this day remains available for anyone, free of charge. How I miss that well! That story may not appear to have anything to do with the verse—unless it has to do with this: When you realize how pure and wholesome that water is, nothing compares. Bottled water does not come anywhere close. The very definition of “spring water” speaks of its purity—its wholesome nature. It is the best and it cannot be duplicated.
God feels that way about us and went to the greatest lengths in order for us to enjoy the life He has given us—and for us to drink from the “spring” of His love at any time because it is always flowing.
In a Reader's Digest article, a contributor told of an Aunt and Uncle who had adopted a baby boy after five years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive one on their own. To their surprise, a short time after the adoption, the aunt discovered that she was pregnant, and she later gave birth to a boy. One day when the two boys were eight and nine years old, the teller of the story was visiting her aunt and a woman in the neighborhood came to visit. Observing the children playing, the woman asked, "Which boy is yours, Ruby?" "Both of them," Aunt Ruby replied. The visitor persisted. "I mean, which one is adopted?" Aunt Ruby did not hesitate. In her finest hour, she looked straight at her guest and replied, "I've forgotten!" When we are adopted as God's children, we quickly come to cherish our heavenly Father's giving nature! He chooses to forget our sins, to forget our wayward past, and to give us the full rights of sons or daughters. He treats us as if we had never sinned and He not only does He call us His own He is unwilling to share us with another. He seeks to protect what is His own. Don’t be tempted to “drink” from anything less that the spring that comes from the heart of God.
Pastor J. T. Carnell