Oh That Someone Would Give Me A Taste of Home

703 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 23:13-15, “ Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 And David said with longing, "Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!" (2 Sam 23:13-15) The exploits of David's “mighty men,” continue to be recounted, but before we get to the next exploit, let's talk about David's yearning for the spring water of Bethlehem. David and his men were holed up in a cave, on the run from Saul, and the dreaded Philistines were in control of David's home town of Bethlehem. It's times like these that our thoughts often take us back to better days and David wistfully says, “oh that someone would fetch me some water from the well at Bethlehem.” In other words, “Oh that someone would give me a taste of home!” There is a spring located in the southern kettle area of Wisconsin where my father-in-law would take me after hikes or cross country ski outings. I cannot describe how delightful and refreshing that water was, and is to this day. Yet I know that it pales in comparison to the water at the well of Bethlehem. The water that David longed for at Bethlehem serves as a picture for us of the living water that would be born in Bethlehem and refresh the world...namely Jesus the Christ! It is the water that every soul has a longing for. The Apostle Paul spoke of it when he preached in Athens: Ac 17:26 "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; Men have been spread out around the globe since the days of the Tower of Babel, but one thing we all have in common is a yearning deep in our souls for God. The Christian mathematician and philosopher Pascal said, “ There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus. Friend, if you have not yet tasted Jesus, this offer is for you. Come to Bethlehem and drink, He is the living water and He promised in Joh 4:14 "whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."