Water Bags
A few years ago, many country people in Australia relied on a
water bag for daily drinking water.
It was a canvas bag measuring about twelve by fifteen inches and it had a
porcelain mouthpiece with a cork, or later a screw-cap. Somehow a wire hangar
was fixed through the top of the bag so that it could be hung under the branch
of a shady tree or in any shady place to keep it cool.
If you were travelling by horse, it could be attached to your saddle, and if you
drove a motor vehicle, you hung it over the front bumper bar so that the breeze
against it kept the water cool inside. However you travelled, if you were away
from home and away from a permanent supply of water, it was a portable
life-saver.
It kept surprisingly fresh and cool even on very hot days.
You never, ever put bad or doubtful water into your waterbag. If you did it was
irrevocably tainted and good for nothing. Equally, you never let the bag dry out
because if it dried out, it became leaky and was no longer water-tight. A leaky
water bag was a liability because if it did not hold you could not rely on it in
a crisis. Without water, you could be at grave risk.
When you began your day, you began with a long drink from the water bag and
topped it up. In the evening when your day’s work was done, you drank again,
deeply and topped it up.
The water bag Jesus offers is similar. ‘The water I shall give will be a spring
of water within him, welling up and bringing eternal life.’ John 4:14.
Drink deeply from it morning and evening. It is good water, suitable for any
crisis.
Drink deeply …
Elizabeth Price