The Water Tank on the Hill

For some years, we lived on the outskirt of the nearby town, in the hills sloping its way through another small valley. At first, it was lonely that I even mentioned it in my letters to friends who came and visited me. The days and nights are calm, with the insects chirping through to the ear.

There was a water tank almost attached to the house, which as it appears, remained unused for quite some time. The flatbed of the water tank hardly retained water as it’s buried in the soil. It must have been in better condition some years ago.

Now, with the number of our family members not small, water availability becomes a huge issue. The nearest water point from our house, on each side of the hill, was more than a quarter-mile up and down. It implies that we have to carry our water pots, mostly on our heads or shoulder, up the hill.

Pretty amount of our time was spent fetching water for the family, which becomes an uphill task every day. However, we learn the preciousness of water throughout these years. Going back few years, water was in abundant for drinking and farming in our previous village.

Here, rainwater really is a blessing from above: we piped together all the raindrops of our tin-roofed house to the water tank. However, without a consistent source, the water in the tank got used up in no time although we tried our best to store the rainwater.

When the rainy season gets over, we’re back to the same problem again. Until today, I can remember those days when I hopefully climbed up the walls to see sufficient water still available, but only to get disappointed a number of times.

The water tank, simply, cannot well up by itself since it is not a well. Further, it’s situated on the upper slope of the hill, which further makes it hard to retain water for a long time. However, we are young and strong so we take care of us. And there’s more to it than simply telling you our struggle.

It’s not more of grumbling but the memory I hold in this house too. I still missed our short time there in the hill as our family members are still complete: none taken as yet. We try giving hope, and of drawing water, from each other.

Fetching the Water:

What the Samaritan woman, on that fateful day, did at Jacob’s well was to fetch water. It is a well, so there’s a probability that it would hardly go dry, any time of the year. There she met Jesus.

“Will you give me a drink?”

The woman was bewildered by the behavior of the Jewish man. She knows the boundary between Jews and Samaritans at that time. So, she rebuked him for being ignorant, which she might have thought.

Jesus continued, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

It was hard to believe for her.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” (John 4:1-26)

To fetch the water, one must know where the well is, at first. The urge to go towards the well is another step. Once at the well, the one who have the water will meet us. Then, drinking from Him would turn us into a spring of living water.

Source of Living Water:

The water tank near my house, in the hill, can hardly retain the water drawn towards it. Once the water tank was filled with rain water, we used it for a while, which gets dried up in no time. And we’re back to our normal routine of fetching water down the hill.

The water tank was old, pierced with tree roots on the side and from below. We know it isn’t possible without repairing, but how much had we wished if it were a well – a spring of water for us. We’re tight on budget like never before as we’ve been displaced few years ago.

In our Christian Living, some of us are like our water tank only. We need to get filled by somebody, in some way, all the time because we couldn’t retain our faith. Our hearts get pierced by our sinful desires and let the water depleted unknowingly.

As we know, we are expected to be the source of living water; since we’d bear the cup of salvation. Jesus Christ is the source of the Living Water.

Parched Living:

The joy of salvation appeared to diminish; many times, I did not possess moisture to soften my burning heart. My body felt burning feeling, at times, mostly on my left side of my body parts due to my ill-health. It seems I’m living in a parched land.

The living water did not welled up; something is wrong. It is because I am busy in my own world, trying to survive by myself, which I couldn’t. I am thirsty but not willing to fetch water; hoping it will last only for a while.

I don’t know if you happened to walked across this parched land. I did. And when I turn to him, he filled my cup – the living water from him washed away the dark nights from me.

The Living Water:

The living water is being offered for mankind to drink from his cup. Drinking from his cup implies we’re his people, a citizen of his kingdom, but still on earth.

Fill us, O Lord today that we have the source of living water in us: So that people around us may drink; and that, we might not thirst again.

“The time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The Spring of Living Water

Give me more of this water
I may live in the hills;
I may live in the valleys.
Turn me into a spring;
A spring of living water,
Welling up to eternal life!

Like the tank in the hill
I’m dry most seasons
I can’t retain what I got
Here I wait; for you to fill me again
Fill my tank, with love, ’till it’s full

Fill my heart, O Lord
Make me a spring of your living water
Welling up for You and me
Let the living water flow through me.