Today I will travel to a business meeting involving new technologies in waste water treatment. One party has a problem to solve with treated water and I am hopeful that this technology can be helpful. It will help a needy population grow and protect the fragility of the local environment. Everybody could win!
But water is a fragile, finite and perhaps the world's most valuable resource. In April of 2010, National Geographic http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/water-pressure/ did an outstanding feature article on the world's water. Some of the stats I cite are from that article. I also want to share a devotional about water and the nature of God. Water is central to many descriptions of God's throne. Jesus did his first miracle by turning water into wine. The very future of our future survival on this planet will be determined in part by how we manage a static water supply with a population that grows by the tens of millions per year.
While the world is covered with water, less than one percent is available to us in fresh water form. Many population centers are located in places of scarce water. Over one billion people on our planet do not have access to clean water. Water borne illness kills over 3 million people per year and is avoidable with simple technologies like the one I will see today. Woman in many cultures spend over 3 hours per day fetching water. Over 46% of the earth's households do not have running piped water in their homes.
Irrigation for crops and plants consumes 70% of the water we use each day. Americans use 100 gallons on average per family per day while many families in developing countries survive on 5 gallons or less. The same amount of water is on the planet today as was available during the time of Abraham. Droughts from lack of rain are devastating agriculture and contributing to a record number of wildfires and climate change.
Water scarcity and water rights will come to define international and local politics more than any other topic in the years ahead. We all need to learn about conservation and seek new ways to do more with less water. Water will also become a central barometer of human rights and "how we treat others as we would treat ourselves". To that end, I want to share with you a devotional from my book, Leading From Our Knees, that gives you a glimpse of the holiness of water. Enjoy it and think about your water footprint today!
GOD AND LIVING WATERS
“Leading others With a Newfound Respect for God’s Life-Giving Water”
Featured Scripture: Revelation 22:1 & Zechariah 14:8 “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb…And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.” Background Scripture: Genesis 1:9-10; Isaiah 43:19-20; Joel 3:18 & Revelation 22:1-5
The image of a pure river flowing from the very throne of God and the Lamb makes us pause to wonder at the majesty of such a sight. God and the gift of living waters should conjure more than our thanks for His provision for a cool drink of life sustaining fluid. It should instill in leaders of faith an attitude of newfound respect for God’s life-giving waters in our communities.
Throughout scripture God uses water to identify His power and His desire to make life occur where it did not occur before.
In today’s passages of scripture, the prophets and John of Revelation describe God’s holy provision of a new river of physical and spiritual life in the New Jerusalem at the time of Christ’s Second Coming. The desert will flow again with God’s life-giving water. It will be water of the holiest source and will make all things new again. Just as God divided the waters at creation; He will make these living waters flow for the redeemed of this world.
God’s relationship with His children is often marked by His leading them to water. He brought Abraham to water. He brought the captives of Egypt to new water. He brought His beloved Son to the River Jordan. Without water; life ceases. Our lesson today illustrates how leaders of faith should develop a newfound respect for the source and value of water. We should recognize our custodial and spiritual connection to God’s water.
Throughout history, access to water dictated the politics of nations. It set the stage for battles and wars. It marked the boundaries of republics and guided trade routes. When water becomes polluted and tainted by man’s callous disregard for his neighbor; the glory of God’s creation is diminished. Water is a diminishing and declining resource. Virtually every leader of faith in the future will be challenged to take bold leadership positions on matters of water resources.
Our custodial responsibility to water in light of scripture becomes a holy duty. Leaders of faith in these days should set noble leadership examples of water stewardship through conservation, wise consumption and water protection. The basic right of access to clean water should be considered a human right and spiritual right. It means that we must become advocates for the powerless, vulnerable and poor who most often become sick or die from lack of access to clean water. It means we may have to take on powerful interests in order to assure that the least powerful among us can take a clean drink of water.
If the throne of God will supply the water to the redeemed souls in the glory of God’s new kingdom to come; as His servants today, shouldn’t we become better leaders and advocates of life-sustaining water for all as our tribute to God? Let our lives of leadership include giving a cup of clean water to the world in Jesus’ Name.
Our Prayer: God of Heaven, You are the God of the physical and spiritual water for all creation. For those of us that have access to the fountain of Your spirit and clean water to drink, create in us a heart of passion to become leaders that preserve and give Your living water to all we serve. AMEN.