Fresh Water

For as long as I can remember, I have had a cat. My parents tell me that I have always loved the furry felines, and that stray cats had a way of ending up on our front porch of every house we ever lived in. I actually can pick up a cat at a stranger's house when we are out on Visitation, and tha cat will like me. Two of our cats turned into 15 while my sister and I were away one year at Bible college. I am definitely a cat person.

While we are much smarter than cats, of course, they have a wonderful habit that more of us should copy. They love love love FRESH WATER. Americans will grab a bottle water more than ever now when they are thirsty. Fifty years ago, coke was the number one soda people gravitated to until it was determined that sodas don't quench thirst, water does. It was unheard of in the 80's to BUY water---only the movie stars did that! Now, almost everyone keeps their "bottle" near by. But cats will go to great lengths to get water. This intrigued me so much to watch my Smokey drink out of a bowl where some potatoes were being "babied" in several bowls. She drank their water. Why? It was available.

In college, I had an English teacher (who was also our Bus Ministry Leader for the girls) give an amazing illustration one day regarding our spiritual lives. She was encouraging us to be clean, prayed up individuals before we went to visit the bus kids. Our visits would be windows of opportunity to make a difference in some teenager's life, and we would not get those moments back---so why waste them? She told us that the only way we can share from God's Word is to have God's Word already put in us. We had to fill up our well so that we had water to give. It was an amazing illustration that I often use to this day, and I'm sure the other "grown up girls" do the same. The problem lies when we try to fill up from something other than God's fresh water for the day.

1. Cats love drinking from the toilet.
In my studying this, a lot of people have opinions on the why, but the scientific answer: it is colder. But water from a toilet? Yuck. That's trashy water to us. The Bible says in Acts 4 that Peter and John answered to the church priests when they were being questioned, "we can NOT help but to speak the things we have seen and heard."
Christian: be careful what you SEE. Be careful what you allow yourself to HEAR. Don't spend a lot of time around those people who contaminate your well---or worse, dry it up---with their negativity.
Proverbs 8:33, "Hear instruction, and be wise , and refuse it not."
Proverbs 2:11, "Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee."

2. Cats drink at 4 laps/second. Really, until high-powered photography, no one knew exactly because they drink at a pace too fast for our human eyes. They do this with their mouths open until that 4th lap, and then the jaw closes down allowing them to swallow. It is elegant and amazingly accurate.

When you are filling your spiritual well for the day, remember that you will be watched. Ask God for wisdom for the things you will face today. Even if you think that your life is so insignificant that no one will be paying attention to your actions, you're wrong. As Christians there is always someone watching our lives. They watch what we say; how we respond; where we go--it never ends. There is never a time to let up in your Christian example, so don't.

3. Cats will drink water from anywhere because they are naturally thirsty. There is a new trend of "cat fountains"--a way to get your kitty to drink more. There are new "cat toilets" that are very fun and cool, but they are gimmicks to get you to buy them. The fact is: a cat is an animal and he will go wherever he needs to go to get his water. He doesn't have to have the cool toilet to do his business--cat dirt is cat dirt.
When filling your spiritual well, don't get sidetracked with the newest evangelical trick that is out there. Don't get all caught up in some devotional that has great stories and let that take the place of God's Word. I love to read, and many of the books available are wonderful as a SIDE item to go along with God's Word. The Bible is the source. The Bible is the deepest of the cold water that won't run out no matter how many times you have to go back to it during the day to refill.

Proverbs 27:9 "Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel."

Everyone has burdens. Everyone looks for that ONE person he can trust when he needs to share those burdens. What if that person is you? Do you have something deeper than some experience of your own to share with him? That kind of help only goes so far. It is humanistic at best.

Proverbs 10:11 "The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked."

Stop right now. Fill your well. Put fresh new water in it because someone needs you today.