When the Bucket Runs Dry
And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. (Exodus 17:1)
SOMETIMES I THINK ABOU MEDLOCK HOLLOW. The set day for going barefooted and planting corn was May 1. There was no set age for riding the mule to water if you proved you could stay on him. He was plenty tame. The set age for being allowed to draw water out of the well by myself was 8. I had watched Grandpa and Mama and my brother: C.J. draw water. Grandpa was the most patient teacher. He began letting me go through the whole process while he stood 3’-4’ away and watched and coached me. I think my mother and brother had closed their minds to my doing such a “grown-up” thing. It was another way of spelling “disaster.” They had heard stories of kids turning up missing and finding them head-first in the family well.
BUT IN OUR MEDLOCK CLAN, EVERYBODY DID THINGS and shared the work load. A warm house and food on the table didn’t just happen. When I turned eight, I was ready. I was privileged to let a bucket, much like this one, down into a hand-dug well to bring up fresh water for drinking and cooking. The bucket had a 3” piece of pipe fastened at the top on one side so that when the bucket hit the water in the well, the bucket would turn over and fill with water. The bucket was drawn up with a rope attached to a windless and crank and emptied into another (nicer) bucket to be carried into the house.
WHEN THE HOUSE BUCKET WAS EMPTY, we had to go to the well and refill it. Grandpa’s daddy had dug our well before the Civil War (1860-65), and before Grandpa was born (1875). A big slab of sandstone had been dragged there with mules and a 36” round hole chiseled through it in the middle of it for accessing the well. The slab prevented surface water from running into the well and polluting it. The wall of the well was lined with big stones, down about 30’. I remember Grandpa going down into the well one time to clean it out; to make sure there was no debris in it. He put the trash and mud into a bucket and somebody at the top drew it out. He let himself down into the well by “walking” down the stones in the wall and then “walking” his way out of the well.
GRANDPA'S HOUSE WAS 100 YARDS OR MORE down the dirt road; a house he had built before he got married. It also had a well, but the water was from a different underground stream and was not as good as the water in our well. Long before I was born, Grandpa and my mother came down with typhoid fever and like to have died. It was determined that his well was the source of the infection. After many years, they began to use his well again to cool the milk during the warm months. Letting the milk down into the well required more skill than drawing water. If you turned over the milk, it would sour in the well and then all the water would have to be drawn out of the well, maybe 2-3 times until the stinking odor cleared up. So, Grandpa got all of his drinking water from our well.
THE EMPTY BUCKET PICTURES OUR LIVES WHEN WE RUN DRY. We could always go to the well and refill the bucket because the well never ran dry, even in a time of drought. Even so, we need to be refilled with the Holy Spirit many times in our lives. We are baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ one time (1Corinthians 12:13) but filled with the Spirit many times (Ephesians 5:18).
THE OLD TESTAMENT IS THE LARGER HALF OF OUR BIBLE because it is the foundation of the New Testament and because we are to learn from it. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples (examples) and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (1Corinthians 10:11)
THE BIBLE MENTIONS WATER 396 TIMES. After our need to breathe, our most intense need is water. God teaches us about our spiritual life by studying “water” in the Bible.
The people ran out of water while they were following the commandment of the Lord. (Exodus 17:1) There’s no mention of any sin or anything displeasing to the Lord. However, this experience was a trial of their faith and it resulted in their murmuring and complaining, which was a bad sin against God.
THIS IS IMPORTANT: At times, we may experience a shortage of the most needed things while we are obeying the Lord. Our faith will be tried. How are we going to react to the trying of our faith? By running out of water, the intensity of their personal need was increased. It is hard for us to advance in faith in the midst of plenty. Paul said he had learned, by faith, to suffer need. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Philippians 4:12)
THEN PAUL INSERTS THAT FAMOUS VERSE that is often quoted out of context: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13) Paul, what kind of things can you do through Christ? Paul said that through Christ he could be full, and he could be hungry, to abound and to suffer need. He could do ALL of those things through Christ.
IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT WOULD BRING GLORY TO GOD TO CLAIM that one could suffer need and be hungry “by the power of Christ.” But that is exactly what he is saying. Christians in Africa and other countries have dug up roots and worms because there was no food. Some Christians have been locked up in their churches and burned up with the burning buildings. They died in faith.
And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: (Hebrews 11:36-39)
WHEN GO IS GOING TO DISPLAY HIS POWER, He sometimes will increase our difficulties before He moves His hand. He increased the difficulties of the Hebrew brick makers in Egypt before He delivered them from their hardships. No straw was provided for their bricks, but they still had to produce the same number of bricks per day. Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. (Exodus 5:7)
ABRAHAM SENT HAGAR AND HER SON (also the son of Abraham) into the wilderness with a bottle of water. That was sufficient for the first part of her wandering. It was the best she could do. She had been sent away by the authority in her life: by Abraham. And in obedience to that authority, the water ran out.
And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. (Gen 21:15-17)
PLEASE STUDY THIS CAREFULLY. Hagar seemed to be carrying the sole weight of their plight. The text records her words, her voice, her weeping. And yet, God heard the voice of the lad. No mention is made of God hearing the mother’s words. Though she lifted up her voice, she may not have lifted her voice to God. She may have wailed in despair without reaching out to God.
ON THE OTHER HAND, GOD HEARD THE VOICE OF THE LAD. The angel begins speaking to Hagar and says: “What aileth thee, Hagar?” There is no mention by the angel that Hagar had prayed to the Lord. The angel said to Hagar: “Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.”
DID THE LAD PRAY TO GOD AND HIS MOTHER DID NOT? It seems that may be the case. The wording of these three verses is tight with no explanation. We may be confident that the angel dealt with the first need of Hagar: “fear not.” Hagar was afraid her son was going to die there, and she removed herself the distance of a bowshot, or 200-300 yards.
ROBERT BROWNING HAMILTON LEFT US THIS FAMOUS POEM. “I walked a mile with Pleasure; She chatted all the way; But left me none the wiser for all she had to say. I walked a mile with Sorrow; And ne’er a word said she; But, oh! The things I learned from her, When Sorrow walked with me.”
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6)
Read Through the Bible in a Year
MARCH 22, 2019 - FRIDAY
A.M Joshua 7-8 P.M Luke 2:25-52
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verse to Memorize:
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. (Psalm 100:4)
Song for Today:
Tell Me the Story of Jesus (5:49) (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AghsSvQ_2B8
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“The Bible is a sufficient guide for faith and practice.”
Health Tip:
Digestive Enzymes. Digestion of food and its use in the body is an extremely complicated process. God made enzymes to digest our food. Amylase digests plant foods. Lipase digests fats (lipids). Protease digests proteins and polypeptides. Lactase digests milk and milk products. Raw foods contain enzymes that digest themselves. Bananas ripen through the action of enzymes that are in the green bananas.
WHEN A SNAKE SWALLOWS A RABBIT, the enzymes in the body of the rabbit do most of the digesting. The snake has to produce enzymes to digest only the last 10% of the rabbit’s body. When food is heated to 118 degrees Fahrenheit, the enzymes begin to be destroyed. A few more degrees and the enzymes are destroyed completely.
THAT'S WHY YOU BLANCH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES before freezing them. Blanching only destroys the outer shell of enzymes. Boiling or pressuring for several minutes destroys the enzymes completely. Pasteurizing milk destroys its enzymes. When we eat cooked food, our bodies must manufacture all the necessary enzymes for digestion. Universities around the world have been studying this for over a hundred year. Making enzymes for digestion, shortens our lives. As we age, we are less able to produce digestive enzymes, and this produces other problems.
ENZYMES CAN NOW BE PURCHASED FOR ADDING TO MEALS. I have been using pancreatin tablets for digesting fat and protein for over 30 years. They are designed to work beyond the stomach. Another type of enzymes is now available that works in the stomach. It is ideal to use both kinds to take the load off the digestive system.
EATING AS MUCH RAW AS POSSIBLE of fruits and vegetables is very helpful. The green powders are now popular and helpful but not as strong as the raw, fresh produce. I use raw powders, and fresh-made carrot/apple juices, and sprouts that I grow part of the year in big-mouth quart or half-gallon jars. Some raw things will digest themselves plus other food. Raw apples and raw pineapples are among the best-known. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Remember that one?
THE MORE RAW STUFF YOU EAT, the more energy. Eating heavy cooked food will force a nap on you while your body slaves away at digesting the load in the stomach. We can’t eat an all-raw diet. We could but are not likely to do it. The best deal is to eat all the raw fruits and vegetables you can (blend your greens in a little apple juice if you like – I do that some). If you dare, drink a quart of organic carrot juice mixed with a granny smith apple, a day. I’ve used the same CHAMPION juicer for 30+ years and it has made over 12 barrels of juice. I have to buy a new cutter every six months or so.
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