Good morning…
Many of our readers enjoyed the touching video about Scott Harrison’s life shared in our blog post from yesterday. Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World is also a book chronicling the global ministry God is inspiring through Scott, a non-profit called charity: water.
“This is one of the books that I read during the pandemic,” a close friend quickly texted. “Can’t find my copy which means I must have lent it to someone. Fascinating story.”
Nudged by a desire to know more, I google quotes from the book and happen upon this thought.
“He would quote from Matthew 25, where Jesus says, rather provocatively, that at the end of our lives, God will judge us by whether we fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, offered hospitality to the outcast, clothed the unclothed, healed the sick, and visited people in prison. Do these things for them, and you do them for Him.”
In slowly reading these words right now, the one word which stands out to me most is the word “and.”
The Bible says, “…we fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, offered hospitality to the outcast, clothed the unclothed, healed the sick, and visited people in prison.” The word chosen is not “or,” it is “and.” All of these healing facets are part of God’s redeeming story. Yet in our one single lifetime we cannot do all of these things, for all these needy people, all at the same time. It is simply not humanly possible.
No. For the hungry to be fed, the thirsty to be given water, the outcasts to be welcomed in, the naked to be clothed, the sick to be healed, and people in prison to be visited, the Spirit must inspire each one of us to play well our God-given role in the story of redemption. When we do life-giving things for the hungry, the thirsty, the outcasts, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned, we do it for our living Lord and our living Lord does miraculous things through us collectively.
Now I feel compelled to walk downstairs and snap a photo of the framed quote my mother cross-stitched for me when I was as a young adult.
A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or what kind of car I drove. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child. Collectively we are designed to be important in the life of the children, the hungry, the thirsty, the outcasts, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned in our midst.
With so many pressing needs, God, where do we begin? Might we start by asking ourselves honestly, “Who in deep need am I thirsting to connect with during these next twenty-four hours?”
Living the life we are designed to live begins today by praying this centering question, listening for any hint of God’s response, and following where the Spirit boldly leads. As we pray, listen, and live into God’s answer, twenty-four hours at a time, the life that is ours to live will spring up from within us like an endless stream of life-giving water.
…Sue…
P.S. In case you missed yesterday’s captivating video of Scott’s life story, here it is again.
