Devotional Messages

DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE

Psalm 104:10-13 – You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, giving drink to every wild animal’ the wild donkeys quench their thirst.  By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches.  From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. (NRSV)

If you’ve ever used one of the denominationally-published planning calendars, you may have noticed that they list a bunch of holidays you’d never heard of before.  Today is World Water Day.  It is apparently a day observed on March 22 every year by the United Nations to highlight the importance of clean water.  You can learn more here.

Our scriptures were celebrating World Water Day long before the UN existed.  All through the Bible there are verses lifting up the life-giving blessing of water.  You could almost say that the scriptures understand water as one of the ways God communicates with us.  Water means life; water means abundance; water means love.

We live in a place that draws our attention to water on a regular basis.  Whether a trip to the beach or a public announcement asking us to conserve water because of drought, water keeps coming up in our lives.  Recently, we’ve had more water than we’re used to, and for some of our neighbors, even that was a challenge.  We also hear regularly about the water being polluted near the border with Tijuana.  This is an important reminder that we shouldn’t take clean water for granted.

So let us give thanks this day for water, for clean water and for the powerful beauty of the ocean.  Let us give thanks for the wonder of the many different kinds of clouds we’ve seen in our skies lately.  Let us pray for those who struggle to find safe water to drink and those whose crops have failed for lack of rain.