Today, I took the afternoon (as I often do on Thursdays) to finish up the sermon for Sunday morning.  A good bit of my time in sermon writing is spent in thought, prayer, and meditation, and so I often find myself looking out the windows of my church office while I organize my thoughts.  Today, I saw something I haven’t noticed before, something that interrupted my train of thought, something I’d like to share with you:

The snow on the roof is melting in the sunlight, and water drops are falling off the edge of the roof onto the ground below.  Suddenly, a few birds – cardinals, from the looks of one of them – land on the edge of the roof, bend over, and drink from the water droplets as they trickle off the edge of the building.

I think what struck me about this scene is just how odd of a drinking position that must be for the birds.  Can you imagine jumping into a stream of running water, facing downstream, bending over, and drinking until your thirst is quenched?  I suppose the birds found this water much more palatable than the running water in nearby Bullock Creek – a stream from which neither birds nor humans would drink willingly!

These birds went to where the water is, and they found satisfaction for their thirst.  Water is fuel for life:  nearly all species of plants and animals depend on water for survival.  So we too, in our daily lives, need spiritual refreshment and nourishment.  Where do we find water for the soul?

“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39 NIV)

Friends, in your everyday walk of faith, go to where the water is:  even Jesus Christ, the one whose birth we celebrate this season, whose glory was revealed on the cross and in the empty tomb, whose Spirit dwells in those who believe, whose return we await with great hope and anticipation.  Drink deeply from this source of life, no matter if it seems like a strange thing to do from the world’s perspective.  There is no better way to live!

–Pastor David