DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- BITTER OR SWEET WATER

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – BITTER OR SWEET WATER

"'And He said, 'What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."  (Mark 7:20-23)

What is inside will come out.  A well can only produce the kind of water that is in the well.  If the water is unclean in the well, then the produce of that well is unclean.  If the water is pure, then the water that comes through the pump will be pure.

I had some relatives who lived on a farm in North Dakota.  I enjoyed visiting the people, but the water they got from their well was horrible.  It was so alkaline that it was hard to drink.  Kind of like drinking straight soda water. They were used to it because they drank it all the time. But it was bad water.

People get so used to bad water in their well that they don't even recognize that it is bad.  They can swear and use profanity, and not even know it.  They can have a critical tongue, and not be aware of it.  

The Apostle James used this metaphor in speaking to Christians.  He said,   "Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not to be so.  Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?" (James 3:10-11).

There is an illustration in the Old Testament when the Children of Israel left Egypt and they came to a place of water called Marah (Exodus 15:23).  The water was bitter but was made sweet when Moses threw a certain tree into the water. In like manner, I need the bitter and polluted waters of my spirit cleansed and made sweet and pure by the work of God in me, because what is in me will come out and will either bless or curse people who are around me.

Love, Dad