In recent days, all of America has been glued to the television images of war in Iraq. In midst of all the devastation, the bombing and death seen on both sides, we are horrified to find that Iraqi troops had cut off water supplies to the city of Basrah and others. It was good to see the humanitarian efforts shown to the citizens of those cities and though you and I might disagree as to whether or not the United States is just in pursuing Hussein, we can't help but be encouraged by the compassion shown by our troops. Perhaps you saw the still photograph of a captured Iraqi soldier, who is being held by one American soldier while another is pouring water from his canteen. Though I don't know anything about these men, I can say this deed of showing compassion on one's enemy was a righteous act.

Throughout history, water plays a significant role in battle. In Psalm 46, Israel's God is called a "refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." It is this ever-present God who makes the besieged city "glad" for He provides a "river whose streams" are within her. He rises early "at the break of day," to fight the battles of His people.

In the New Testament, as well, water becomes an important theme in the teaching of Jesus. To the woman at the well, a Samaritan, en enemy of the Jews, Jesus asked, "Will you give me a drink?" After some discussion, he finally told her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in his a spring of water welling up to eternal life."-John 4:13-14.

The water Jesus provides is an invitation to a relationship with the One who provides eternal hope through belief in the Christ of God. It is no accident that the gospel message presented by Peter at Pentecost includes baptism "in water," for the "forgiveness of sins."-Acts 2:38. It is "into Christ," that one is baptized, that is, into a saving relationship with Him, Galatians 3:26-27. Water; it is used both as a means of salvation, as a metaphor of a relationship with God and as a statement of the reality of the Spirit's work in salvation.

Water. You can't live without it!