March 2007


As you are walking along,” He told them, “you will see a man coming towards you carrying a pot of water. Follow him.” Mark 14:13 

water-carrier.jpgSomeone should write a book on the nameless people in the Bible who played a roll in God’s eternal plan. This guy was one of them. Jesus was giving His disciples instructions for preparing the last supper. “Follow the guy carrying a bucket of water. He’ll lead you to a room where we will dine.”

When the guy got up that morning, he had no idea he would go down in history. It was just another day. Just going about his normal duties. Probably as a servant. A water carrier. Yet, the Son of God saw him, singled him out, and gave him eternal significance.

What if he had neglected his responsibilities that day? “This job sucks! It’s beneath my dignity. Tell the boss he can carry his own water. I’m outta here!”

Hate to admit it but it’s how I might have felt. I don’t want some entry level position. I want a job where people know my name. Look up to me. Where I can climb the ladder of success.

This guy says, “I’ll climb the ladder and clean out the gutters if that’s what the Master wants.”

Jesus took note. Saw his heart. The heart of a servant.

Standing at the bathroom sink this morning, shaving as I’ve done ten thousand times before, I wonder what my day will hold. Will I live life in such a way that God will take note? Single me out? Use me in His great plan? Or not?

What about you?

Carrying water isn’t glamorous. They may not mention your name. But who knows when God might speak to someone in need of direction and say, “Follow the man, follow the woman carrying the pot of water.”

The Lord your God has watched over you and blessed you every step of the way for all these forty years as you have wandered around in this great wilderness; and you have lacked nothing in all that time.” Deuteronomy 2:7 LB

wilderness2.jpgI see the words “wandered around” and I picture a person with no sense of direction. Lost. No goals, no purpose.

Or someone at the mercy of their own circumstances. They would like to go far in life, live out their dreams, but they are hindered. By race, poverty, education, disability. Like a boat with only one oar. At the mercy of the shifting tides.

I’m not sure about you but I’ve felt that way a time or two … today. Caught in the spin cycle of the washing machine of life. And it isn’t set on delicate.

The Israelites “wandered around” in the wilderness forty years, yet today’s verse says in all that time, they lacked nothing. Despite all their wanderings, God provided every need. They were lost but not abandoned.

Don’t you like what it says?

The Lord your God has watched over you and blessed you every step of the way.”

He’ll do the same for you and me today!