Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese every day life.
Have you ever been stuck for fuel for your vehicle, or, perhaps more dangerously, have you ever been running low on water to drink? I thank God that I have never been seriously short of either the mechanical “juice” or the human “running fuel”.
I have lined up, with many others, for the rationed two gallons of diesel in Khartoum back some 15 years ago. I have also had to boil water from the taps in my home, for a few hours, just once or twice during the 23 years Brenda and I have lived in our present home in Redruth, Cornwall. The local authorities made a mistake in their cleaning processes and so the water from our home taps was deemed “dangerous” to drink without “boiling thoroughly for two minutes” beforehand.
Towards the end of one of Jerusalem’s many feasts Jesus stood prominently in the crowd and shouted, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will come from within him”, John 7:37-38.
“Living water” offers a resource that has a life of it’s own. It will not breakdown. A “stream” implies a continuous flow of this resource. It will never run out.
A friend from my congregation in Khartoum sent me this picture. It shows some of the drilling equipment necessary for a proper search of his area. Serious searching must be done carefully and precisely. There is a cost to be paid.
To experience in full the refreshing life offered to all by Jesus, don’t be satisfied with anything less. Meet Jesus frequently in his word. Listen carefully to what he says. Learn to practise what Jesus preaches. See his words come true.
May 2011.
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