1 Peter 3:18b-22 - Remember your baptism

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:18b-22

Summary: Christ was killed but made alive in the spirit. Just as God saved 8 people through water in the flood of Noah's time, so our baptism saves us with water.

Thoughts: I'm having a hard time making the connection between how God saved Noah from the flood by having him build an ark. and baptism. It seems that in the flood it is the water that killed people, but in baptism it is the water that saves us. It is through the sacrament of Baptism that God brings us into the family of God. The water is used to symbolize the cleansing of sin from our lives. Perhaps that is the connection. The water of the flood cleansed the earth of the sin of its sinful inhabitants. But even then, this connection doesn't work for me. Baptism is a life giving event in our lives, one that doesn't need to be repeated because it is the work of God. So I take this opportunity to thank God for my baptism, for the opportunity given to me to become a member of the family of God!

Prayer: Lord help us to remember our own baptism each time that we see someone else baptized. For it is truly a mystery why you would take a frail human being into your own family, but a blessing that you do. Thank you! Amen.

John 4:7-15 - Living Water

Scripture: John 4:7-15

Summary: This is the story of Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman. He asks her for a drink and later tells her that he could give her living water, so she will never be thirsty again. Then she asks him for some of this water.

Thoughts: I was with a group of youth in Mexico one summer building a house and I drained my bottle of water but I was still thirsty. Now we always take a large water cooler with water and ice to the worksite, so I went to the cooler to fill up my bottle. But the cooler was empty. And we didn't have a spare jug of water to refill it. Here we are, 30 people without water, in the desert working. It's bad to run out of water in the desert because it's the one thing you can't live very long without. The living water that Jesus offers the Samaritan woman sounds like it is too good to be true. If you only had that water, you wouldn't have to come out to the well several times a day for water! The good news about Jesus' living water is that it it free for the asking. The life giving power of God's love is free to all who simply ask for it. Now, on my Mexico trip, we were able to go and buy more water. But we don't have to pay for the living water that Jesus offers us. It is available to us always. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: God you provide us with all that we need: shelter, food, clothing, and life giving water. But most importantly, you give us the living water that Jesus provides. We only have to ask! Amen.