Daily
Devotional

Growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the 1940s, we never quite became used to the hot, sticky summers. The upstairs of our home was so hot at night that we children would take blankets and pillows and go lie on the kitchen floor in front of the screen door, trying to stay cool enough to sleep. In fact, it was so warm in one bedroom that some slender wax candles my sister had used to decorate her dresser melted and bent over into upside-down U shapes. Air conditioners were rare and not in our budget, and our one oscillating fan did little to cool off a two-story house.

During this time, my father did roofing for a living. He could not work much beyond noon as the heat was unbearable on a roof. He would come home and pile us kids into the car and we would go to a nearby lake to swim and cool off. What a pleasure that was! I do not remember anyone ever turning down the opportunity to go along. We had a great time, and we left feeling completely refreshed.

As Christians living in a sinful world, the darkness around us can feel suffocating at times. It has a way of sapping our joy in the same way that stifling heat saps one’s energy. That is why it is so important to fill up daily on the living water. When we commune with God through reading His Word and prayer, we are refreshed and prepared to start another day with zeal for the Gospel. During the “heat of the day,” when we need to be recharged the most, God has promised to hear our cry and not forsake us.  

Without water, a person will not survive long—about ten days at the most. Without being refreshed by living water, our souls will also soon die. Let us take advantage of God’s water daily.