We were going camping in North Carolina with our friends over a holiday weekend. The campground we chose was almost overflowing. The only campsites left were those far from the washrooms.
By the time we had put up our tents and settled in, I was tired and thirsty. As I began the long walk to the washrooms for a drink, I saw a pipe sticking out of the ground. It looked like a little fountain with water gushing up from it. That was considerate of someone, I thought, as I knelt down to take a drink. I was glad I didn’t have to take the time to walk all that way to the washrooms just for a drink. The children were hungry, and it was past time to get supper started.
The Bible tells us about our souls being thirsty. Each of us has a thirst to know the truth about God our Maker and what we can do about all our sins that displease Him. The Bible also tells us about a fountain of pure water where our souls can drink in the truth. Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink” (John 7:37). Jesus is that fountain of pure water. He is the only one who can satisfy your thirsty soul by washing your sins away and giving you everlasting life. He says, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).
The drink that I took from that pipe in the campground satisfied my thirst. I didn’t know it then, but I was deceived when I drank that water. It tasted good to me, but it was polluted. That evening I took another drink from the pipe, again saving a long walk to the fountain by the washrooms.
When we woke up the next morning it was pouring rain. Our tents and much of our camping gear were soaked. And to add to the unpleasantness, I was sick.
After a soggy breakfast, we all decided it would be better to leave our dripping tents and rent some cabins at a campground in a different area. When we got there the sun was shining. Each family had their own little cabin with a kitchen and bathroom. After a day’s rest I felt much better.
Soon our wonderful weekend was over, and it was time to go back to the campground to take down our tents.
The tents were still wet and the weather was hot and muggy as we packed them up. I was thirsty and took another drink from the pipe close by, not realizing that that water was what had made me sick. The children were watching and they drank from it too. Again, it tasted good and we felt as though our thirst was satisfied. However, when we woke the next morning all of us who had drunk that water were sick.
There was no sign over the pipe to let us know that the water was not safe to drink. And people who tell you wrong things about God and the Bible don’t wear a sign on themselves to let you know they are false teachers. Proverbs 25:26 warns, “A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt [polluted] spring.” There’s no one so wicked in God’s sight as someone who does not tell the truth about the Lord Jesus and the Word of God. They are just like that polluted water we drank.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). God wants us to read our Bibles carefully and check everything we hear by His holy Word. He says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (l John 4:1).
It’s very bad to drink polluted water, but it’s much worse to drink polluted words. Read your Bible carefully and often. You can believe God’s Word. “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).
ML-02/12/1995