I have run across the term ‘artesian well’ twice in the last week or so, and it got me thinking. (An artesian well is one that doesn’t have to be pumped. The water is so abundant that it just wells up by itself, if you tap into it.)
Add to the mix the holidays and thoughts of family, plus a conversation with a friend about sowing and reaping, and this is what it all ended up as:
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Once upon a time, there was a woman who lived in a barren land, devoid of water and life. She remembered days of green and wet, but they were so distant that even the memories were drying up and blowing away. Oh, how she longed for life again! But no matter what she tried, there was no water to be found. The woman feared that soon she would be as dry as the dust in her fields.
Now you must understand that this woman belonged to the King’s family. And it was not His desire for any of His children to live in such a barren place. In fact, He had provided abundant water for her farm, for many generations. Each generation had taken what it needed, and left the rest, which had filtered down into the soil, and thence to the bedrock, and deeper and deeper, until a vast lake filled the underground chambers of her land.
Alas, the woman had no knowledge of this resource, nor means to reach it. Finally, she went to her Father, and asked him for help. He took her in His loving arms, and told her of His blessings to her forebears. She was stunned! But now the question was, how to tap into this resource?
Father said, “Just ask Me.” So she did, and He cleared out the old well down through the rock until the water began to flow across the land.
As her land became green again, the woman asked her Father if there was anything she needed to do to make sure there was always enough water.
“Give to any that ask, Beloved,” He replied.
“But I already do! And my parents did, too. So why did the water dry up during their lifetime?”
“Ah,” He explained, “Sometimes the well becomes clogged with rocks and dirt, which stop the water from getting to you. But know that it is always there. Always! And the more you give it away, the more you will have.”
The woman thanked her Father, the King, and returned to her farm to grow her crops. She gave water to all who asked, and taught her children to do so too, telling them of the secret of the artesian well.
And she lived abundantly ever after.
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The gifts God gives are not returnable. So where do they go?
Where do the harvests go from our sowing – truth, life, money, whatever? Do we, perhaps, have a vast untapped lake of blessings waiting somewhere?
What about the crops sowed by our ancestors? If they didn’t reap the full harvest, did what was left in the field rot, or is it hidden beneath layers of hardness of heart, caused by fear or unbelief, or lack of understanding?
In addition, we are co-inheritors with Christ, so how do we tap into that abundance?
Is all that only to be ours in some far-off day in heaven? Are we only ‘storing up treasures in heaven’? Yet Jesus said if we give, men would give back to us (Luke 6).
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I am coming to believe that I have an untapped well filled by giving: my grandfather’s, my mother’s, even mine. Bitterness, unbelief, lack of knowledge, all have clogged the well. But as Father and I clear away all the rocks and dirt clogging it, the water of blessings begins to bubble up.
He is a good God! He gives good gifts! His gifts are non-refundable. His truth endures forever. Let’s stop rejecting what He has given us.
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May you begin to see what is stopping the artesian well of His blessings to flow freely in your life. And may you heed His directions, so as to ensure that there is water for your coming generations to tap into.
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P.S. The word give (or given or gives) occurs 1392 times in the Bible (KJV). How important is giving to God? hhmmm.
Spices on the Wind 