Sweet Water by Kim Shoemaker

“And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)

    This doesn’t seem like much . . . giving someone a drink of water. It may not be that big of a deal, the big deal is doing it. Part of the dilema is will the gift of water be accepted or rejected and if rejected, then being humiliated. Sad isn’t it, that we worry about the latter. Was Jesus worried about rejection?

    The story is told of a traveler in the desert that came across an oasis. This oasis had the sweetest water he had ever tasted. Impressed, he loaded his camel skins with the water to take to the King. The trip took many days. Upon arrival, the King accepted the servant’s gift and took a swallow of the water. After drinking the water the king declared that the water was the best he had ever tasted and thanked his faithful servant.

    After the servant left, the rest of the court wanted to drink and the king let them. Quickly they spit out the water and declared how foul the water tasted and questioned the king why he said it was so good. The king stated that the gift along with the thought was the important thing, not that the water had baked in the camel skin for days and therefore had turned sour.

    So it is with our walk with God. We need to simply offer our gift, whatever that is. Some work with hands, fixing and repairing. Others are able to share during Bible class. The point is we need to be of service to our Lord. He knows our intent and is glad to accept our “glass of water”.

Lord, let me not be ashamed of offering a glass of water to my fellow man. Let me not be ashamed to stand for you no matter the cost. The cost is not up to me. My values are not your values, oh, please make yours mine. In him I pray. Amen.

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