The Sound of Water ~ Proclaiming the Gospel

In the deep, sleepy greenery of Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, live two of my very favorite human specimens.  I visit them when I need a break from the hustle and bustle of life.  No matter what time of year it is, Mary and Lonnie are always free for a visit!  The house is nestled deep in the forest where a green glow settles in the underbrush and the air is wet and heavy.  On their property, down by the base of the house, a reflecting pool offers sanctuary to the wildlife.  During my last visit, I kept watching the pool with the hopes of seeing any of the various wild animals come for a drink.  No such luck.  But on the last day of my stay, my friends turned on the fountain attached to the pool.  Immediately all manner of creature came out of the forest to drink the water!  Black capped chickadees, chipmunks, dragonflies; it was a veritable menagerie!

I watched the scene, totally enchanted.  Then I began to wonder, why had all these animals burst from the forest only when the fountain was turned on?  It had been a terribly hot day, but only now did they come to drink from the pool.

The reason may be that the sound of water travels better than the scent of water.  Smells travel by diffusion, which takes a long time.  Often these water particles dissipate and become difficult to pick up deep in the forest.  Sound, however, travels as a wave.  Thus, depending on the medium and temperature through which it travels, sound moves quite efficiently.  On a given 68˚F day, sound travels through the air at a rate of 4.7 miles per second!
           
As I later reflected on this, I remembered the words of Paul in Romans 10v13-14:

“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’  How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?”

How easy it is to think, “I’ll just be a good person, and then people will be saved because of my good example.”  Indeed, being a kind person and living a life of love will do wonders.  Yet, according to the Scriptures, this is not enough!  When Jesus gave the Great Commission in Mark 16v15, He did not tell His disciples to go and be nice to people.  The gospel is both lived and proclaimed.  There are millions upon millions of thirsty souls, hoping for a sign of water.  The kind of people we choose to be plays a significant role as we lead others to Christ, but if we never tell them about Him, how will they know who to believe in?


May we not be people who simply believe in God, but let us tell others that we do.  Thirsty people will be naturally attracted to us when the Spirit of God rests on us.  But that is a delicate scent.  Let us proclaim truth to all who will listen, in the joyful hope that they will find their way to the wells of salvation!



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