Articles
Benefits of Water
According to the UC Davis (CA) website, “A pair of studies conducted by Richard Coss, professor emeritus of psychology at UC Davis, and a former student, Craig Keller (B.A., psychology, ’09), showed that gazing at bodies of water can help lower your heart rate, blood pressure and increase feelings of relaxation.” This study, and others, have verified what we all have probably experienced at some point: The calming effects of simply viewing a body of water, and even more so when we hear the gentle sound of waves against the shoreline.
This past week, I and my family headed out to enjoy those benefits, staying at a location where we could gaze out over a body of water from where we were staying, and walk out to the water’s edge and simply sit and relax. It was indeed calming, and we were able to enjoy a much-needed break from the various stresses we have experienced this past year. I recalled another time when over in Jamaica working with some brethren there, and we had a stopover at a secluded beach while we were waiting for others to meet us to go on to further work. It was then I was able to find a spot in the shade right up against the water line, and I was able to simply sit and look out over the water while hearing the waves gently crash against the shore, where smooth stones would roll over each other with each incoming wave. The sight and sounds were calming, and its benefits were immediate.
But I also know that this is not by accident, for our Creator knows us best and knew even before we were created what would be good for us. Water, as we likely know, has many benefits. Let us consider some of those benefits, as intended by our Creator and Sustainer.
Sustaining the Body. We all know that water is a necessity for human life; while we can go for weeks without food, we can survive only a few days without water. The simple need for water is shown in the Scriptures when Jesus stopped at Jacob’s well in Sychar and “A woman of Samaria came to draw water”; it is then “Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink’” (John 4:5-7). And more than once, the Israelites complained after being delivered from Egyptian bondage and, as they traveled through the desert, had no visible water to drink; on one of those occasions, they complained to Moses, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” (Exod. 17:1-3). We are well familiar with the need for regular water intake, for it sustains us.
Rainfall. We also are all likely familiar with the need for water for all living creatures and the various plant life. This is seen when God promised Israel that, if they served Him faithfully, He would give them “the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil” (Deut. 11:13, 14). Eliphaz noted, in his words to Job, that it was God who does many wonderful things, mentioning first that “He gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the field” (Job 5:10). Paul noted to those of Lystra, “He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17). And Jesus even noted that the Father “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).
While these everyday facts are known to many, lesser known are the benefits of a different kind of water — the most precious of all:
Living Water. Let’s go back to the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well at Sychar. After Jesus asked her for a drink, she said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” and John adds, “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9). But Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10). The woman clearly did not know of what Jesus spoke, for she then said, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock” (John 4:11, 12).
It is then that Jesus explained somewhat, telling her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13, 14). Upon hearing this, the woman replied, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw” (John 4:15). She still could not comprehend what Jesus was trying to tell her! He was not speaking of literal water, comprised of hydrogen and oxygen, but the spiritual life made possible to those who accept the teachings off the gospel — “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:30, 31). Jesus Himself said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25, 26). Jesus is the source of this living water — the means to eternal life; please know that no one else is able to grant to us eternal life, for He is this world’s only Savior (Acts 4:12).
Never Thirsting = Never Dying. This “living water” is, as Jesus said, one where those who drink of it shall never thirst again; He is, of course, speaking figuratively about water while speaking of eternal life. This is further revealed in the heavenly vision of John where, in the view of “the holy city, New Jerusalem” (Rev. 21:2), and he hears God tell him, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son” (Rev. 21:6-8). Later, John sees “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1), and “on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him” (Rev. 22:2, 3).
If we remember, the Tree of Life [in the Garden of Eden] was the one of which man could have eaten and lived forever (Gen. 3:22), but was taken from man when he sinned. We see it now in the heavenly vision of John and, not surprisingly, it is where God is and where that “pure river of water of life” flows. It is the place of eternal life, in heaven for all eternity.
When the world was filled with evil and violence, God brought the flood waters on the earth and destroyed all men but Noah and his family; they were delivered from wickedness of the world by water (1 Pet. 3:20). When Israel was delivered from Egyptian bondage, God brought them through the waters of the Red Sea, and brought those same waters down upon the pursuing Egyptian army (Exod. 14:10-38); those waters were the dividing line between bondage and freedom. It is through the waters of baptism God will also deliver the one who has faith in His work and in Jesus Christ, but this time from the bondage of sin (Col. 2:11-13; 1 Pet. 3:21).
Water is vital. — Steven Harper
