A pottery teapot rests on an open shelf in my dining room. It has been in my family for seven generations. This nineteenth-century vessel depicts Rebekah holding an urn at a stone well in the desert, with a palm tree nearby. When a man approached her, this is what happened:
She said, "Drink sir." Then she quickly lowered the water jar with her hands and gave him some water to drink. When she finished giving him a drink, she said, "I’ll draw some water for your camels too, till they’ve had enough to drink." —
Genesis 24:18-19
Water in the desert for a parched stranger and his thirsty animals. The rest of the story describes how Rebekah’s actions changed her life.
Have you ever offered an act of kindness, something that might have seemed routine but because of how you did it or who you encountered, it transformed you?
I had this experience working at an outreach ministry in rural Tennessee, packing groceries and helping with utility bills for the needy. These seemingly simple acts changed me because of the Holy Spirit moving through them. They opened me to those among us who are hungry and poor. They opened me to God.
A piece of clay becomes a family treasure. Rebekah becomes Isaac’s wife. Bags of canned goods become holy food and drink. What do you offer to others that God uses to change you?
