Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, the official of the district
of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He built it, covered it and hung its
doors with its bolts and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah at the
king's garden as far as the steps that descend from the city of David.
(Nehemiah 3:15 NAU)
Located on the southern portion of the Eastern wall, this
gate was the source of fresh water for the city. It was here that we would find
people coming to supply their homes with water for drinking and cooking. There
was another gate, located just to the north of this gate, which was used for
watering animals. But at the Fountain Gate, pure, fresh water could be drawn to
restore the weary worker and traveler. Here, one found a place of rest and
restoration.
Water is a mainstay of life. Without water we
cannot live. We know that a person can go days, even weeks, without food. But
we cannot live very long (most experts say three days) without water. So it is
with our spiritual journey here on earth. We can exist without a lot of the
things we think we need for living a successful life. But we cannot live long
at all without the One who is the very Source of Life.
C.S. Lewis explains it this way:
What Satan put
into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could "be
like gods"—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be
their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God,
apart from God.
And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all we
call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes,
empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other
than God which will make him happy.
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man
from the snares of death. (Proverb 14:27 NIV)
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