I was out for a late night jog. These are the only type I
get nowadays. With my schedule a wife and five kids you squeeze stuff in
whenever you can. This is my alone time, I pop in the earbuds, turn on my Ipod
and away I go. Sometimes I pray a bit but usually I just zone out and watch the
rain fall in front of me as I run. Tonight was no different I did my usual run
saw the usual people out and about and thought to myself as I trotted along ,
but when I was about 15 minutes away from home I saw her standing on the corner
working away. If I crossed the street it would be obvious that I was trying to
avoid her so I thought to myself just pass on by and don’t make eye contact,
you don’t want to give the wrong idea. So I ran past looking straight through
her as if she wasn’t even there. Then as I passed I heard a voice ask “can I
please have some of your water?” It was as much a shock to me as it was to her
when I stopped and turned around. She asked me again “I’m so thirsty can I
please have some of your water bottle?” I handed it to her and told her to take
the rest and to keep it. She said thanks and as I left I just said “take care
kiddo.” As if we’d been friends for a long time. As I was jogging back home all
I could think of was the women at the well. I didn’t have the wherewithal to
share Christ with her tonight and who knows if it was my job to do anyways.
What I do know is that the water I gave her will only quench her thirst
temporarily but the living water that has been given for us all could quench it
forever. I like to think that I accept all people and that I don’t judge
others, but it’s just not true. Tonight a prostitute taught me that I am no
better or more human than she is. I may have a roof over my head a family that
I love and all the other stuff that I hold dear but I need that water just as
much as she does. We worry about H1N1, the bills that are piling up, getting
our way and about our rights being ignored. Yet there are people around us who
have no food to eat no water to drink and no idea that anyone, especially God,
could love them. I’m not going to be perfect and I won’t always have the right
answer but from here on out I know that I’ll always run with an extra bottle of
water.
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