Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, February 18, 2024
The colors caught my eye first, rows of bright pink and bright purple bottles lined up on the store shelves. Then the name of the product drew me to a closer inspection. I picked up a purple bottle of Heart Water and wondered what ingredients the company had added to the water to make it “heart-y.”
Nothing, apparently! Instead, I read, “Plain Rain – This bottle contains 100% natural rainwater. Ingredients: Micro-filtered Rainwater.”
I picked up the pink bottle and read, “Pink Himalayan Rain – This bottle contains 100% natural rainwater, pink himalayan crystal salt.”
Turning both bottles around, I found this disclaimer: “No specific heart health is claimed by this product.” So where’s the heart in Heart Water?
Here it is! “Full of Heart: Our water is made with love. Your purchase supports the Heart Water Foundation helping communities become water self-reliant.”
A brief browse through the HWF website elaborates on their mission and other aspects of their foundation, including their five-step process to harvest rainwater. That caused me to pause and reflect on the fact that I’ve long known how crucial the right amount of rainwater is to the successful harvest of many crops – but I’ve never heard of rainwater itself being harvested.
Even though it was Valentine’s Day when I discovered these Heart Water bottles, they were not on prominent display at the front of the store with other heart items; instead, they were modestly arrayed on an endcap near the back of the store.
The Heart Water may have been relegated to the back of the store, but it stayed in the front of my mind the rest of the week, simmering.
I kept musing on what I thought even better heart water could be. Because, yes, this makes me think of Jesus.
First thought: tears.
For You, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. (Psalm 116:8 NIV)
Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. (Lamentations 2:19)
Jesus in Gethsemane, pouring out His heart in excruciatingly painful prayer to His Father God:
And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:44 NKJV)
Heart water is tears; heart water is blood. Especially when it’s Jesus’ blood – falling, flowing, shed for us.
Blood, sweat, and tears – Jesus gave His all for all of us. That’s why we sing, “Amazing Grace.” And here’s some more amazing:
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39 NKJV)
If we believe in Jesus, He gives us the Holy Spirit, which means His living water will flow out of us! We become pipelines for His heart water!
As we step out into this brand-new week, even if there’s nothing exciting you can see on your horizon, it can be an amazing week. We can find our joy and purpose in pipelining His love and His grace to the people He puts in our path.