“Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.”
- John 4:14
”…a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”- Matthew 5:14
I’m just an old dog, but I’ve learned something about small towns.
You can lose the grocery store, miss the stop sign, and even forget where that one cousin lives, but if you can find the water tower, you can usually find your way home.
Sure enough, there it’ll be—standing over everything else.
Big letters painted across the side announcing the town’s name, as if it were proud to belong there.
Every little town seems to have one.
Some are painted bright white or blueish gray.
Some wear the local school’s mascot name like a badge of honor.
A few are rusty enough to make an old dog feel young again.
But they’re always standing there…quiet and faithful above everything else.
One afternoon I was riding with human with my head out the window soaking in the countryside and not exactly sure where we were… until I spotted the water tower.
My human smiled and said, “That tower doesn’t make the water. It just holds it high enough so it can flow where it’s needed… and nobody pays much attention to it until they need what’s inside.”
Now that’ll preach.
I got to thinking that nobody gathers around to admire a water tower.
Folks don’t brag about it at the coffee shop.
They don’t usually take pictures in front of one (except in that moment when someone secretly painted “so and so hearts so and so” on one side of it)
But if it quit doing its job… everybody would notice.
That old tower isn’t famous because it’s pretty.
It doesn’t flash lights or make noise.
It just stands there through sunshine, thunderstorms, ice, and July heat, quietly staying full so everybody else has what they need.
Sounds a little like the Christian life.
Jesus said we’re to be like a city set on a hill.
Easy to see—not so folks will admire us, but so they’ll know where to find hope (and love).
Then He promised that those who trust Him would have Living Water flowing from within.
If we’re full of Jesus, grace comes out when someone bumps into us.
Patience shows up when life gets aggravating.
Joy leaks out when everybody else is running on empty.
And here’s something else this old dog noticed.
That water tower always has the town’s name painted on it—not its own.
I like that.
Our lives ought to make much of Jesus instead of ourselves.
If folks walk away talking more about us than about Him, we’ve missed the whole point.
So the next time you roll into a small town and spot that old water tower before you see anything else, let it remind you to stay close to the Source.
Stay full.
Stand faithful.
Point people home.
And let the water flow.
Besides… even an old dog knows the best water isn’t found in a bowl or even in a tower.
It’s found in the One who never runs dry.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
