Well-spring

Above all else guard your heart, for it is the well-spring of life.

Water. It’s essential. I think as a middle-class American living in the 21st century I have no real concept of this. But most of the world, throughout most of history has understood this relationship we have with water. They understand its necessity, how integral it is to survival.

Do you know what the number one killer of children is? Dehydration. Without water we die. It’s that simple.

So when this proverb was written the people who heard felt the impact of the image more strongly than I do. If I went to a well twice a day to draw water for my family and livestock, if I balanced a jug on my head and walked a mile barefoot so I could make my dinner you bet I’d feel differently about water. If I counted on rain to water my garden so my children would have vegetables to eat I would be keenly aware of my dependence.

To say that the heart is the well-spring of life is a big deal. And a powerful image.

So for a moment I will pretend that I live across the Atlantic in a remote African village. There is but one well in the center of town. And that is where I must go to get water. I go every morning, and every afternoon. And when I am at the well I meet other women…everyone comes to the well. Everyone must. We have this in common; this need for water binds us. We are a community.

Because I grew up depending on the well-spring I know there are seasons where the water table is high and the water is plentiful. There are also seasons, years even, of drought. And as a community we conserve. We are not tolerant of those who would use too much, because we are stewards of this resource and our lives depend on us managing it wisely.

Also, we are careful to not to pollute our clean water source, because it has happened before. I have known those who’ve died from diseases contracted from filthy water. The consequences are devastating when a community must choose between no water and filthy water.

And when I hear, “guard your heart, for it is the well-spring of life.” I get it. I understand.

First, a well’s purpose is to offer life. It is functional and central to community. My life, my heart, has been designed to offer life too. A well does not exist for its own sake but for the sake of others.

I understand that I must monitor what goes into my heart and how much comes out. Because I see that when filth is introduced to water it can destroy a community. It is the same with my heart.

And in my lifetime I have seen the well run dry because of over-use, and drought. I understand that I must not pour my heart out for things that are not worth it. I must carefully choose where to invest my life.

So when I hear this proverb I understand who I am, because I understand what a well-spring is.

But there is another story in the Bible about water, a better one I think. So Jesus (who by the way lives in a culture that understands the importance of water) is passing through a village in the middle of the day. It’s hot. He stops at the well to get a drink. He meets a woman there. She is the only other one there, and that is important. Most women come in the morning, when it’s cool. This one comes when she is sure not anyone else. She is shunned from the community; she is alone.

And Jesus speaks to the woman. That’s important too. Because in his culture women were not valued. But Jesus spoke to her, saw her. Women matter to Jesus; this woman mattered to Jesus.

Sometimes Jesus said the weirdest stuff. This is one of those times. He said he was living water. He said that if she drank from him she’d never be thirsty again. Weird. But as a woman living in the desert, who got her water from a well she understood thirst. I bet she thought Jesus was a nutcase. Here he was, in broad daylight, talking to a woman shunned by the community claiming to be living water. But by claiming to be living water Jesus offered hope and healing…to that woman at the well, but to me too.

I’m trying to guard my heart these days. I try not to pollute it by putting crud into my life. I try to be wise about where I invest my resources. I’m trying to remember that my job is to offer life to others. It’s not about me. Sometimes I feel depleted. But I’m learning that I am just the well-spring. Jesus is the water; his life should pour through me. He should be my satisfaction. And in Him I can have what I need to offer life to the community around me.