“Good fences make good neighbors,” wrote Robert Frost. I have shared costs for new fences with neighbors on both sides of my property. It is easier to get along with our neighbors if the boundary lines are well-established. Is there anything better than fences, though? Someone asked a rancher in Australia where the fences were on his property. He answered, “In this part of the world, we don’t build fences. We dig wells.”
After Abraham and Abimelek agreed to be truthful and kind with each other, a problem arose. Abimelek’s servants took one of Abraham’s wells. Water mattered in the ancient world. When Abraham complained, Abimelek acknowledged the problem. Abraham brought gifts to his neighbor to establish he had dug the well. They named the place Beersheba as a reminder that something important had happened there. Afterward, Abraham planted a Tamarisk tree there and he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. Then he stayed there a long time in the land of the Philistines.
What kinds of neighbors do we want? The good news is this is our Father’s world. But sometimes, it seems like we live in the land of the Philistines. We are still not in charge of the world. We read in the Proverbs, “A gentle answer turns away wrath . . . (Proverbs 15:1). Paul told the Christians in Rome not to take revenge but to leave room for God’s wrath (Romans 12:19). So we try to live at peace with everyone as far as it depends on us (Romans 12:18). If our enemies are hungry or thirsty, we feed them and give them water (Romans 12:20). Our goal is not for our neighbors to stay out of our way, but that they come to find Jesus who is the Way. How can we love our neighbors, all of our neighbors today so that they come to know the love of Jesus? Share living water from the well you have found.
