164th Street Artesian Well Open Air

The water from this well is brought to you courtesy of the Alderwood Water District.  This well goes by a couple of different names; it is called Well No. 5 or the 164th Street Artesian Well.   The well itself reaches to a depth 400 feet and is encased to approximately 120 feet.  The water flows out of the pipe at a rate of about 10 gallons per minute, and its source is an underground aquifer, which is a water-bearing layer of permeable rock, sand and gravel, which filters and purifies the water.

By way of trivia, we humans can survive only around three (maybe a max of five) days without water (and that’s in the best of conditions).    The Mayo Clinic says you need about 10 cups of water a day, but if you were marooned on a desert island or stranded in the blistering heat of a desert without water, within a day or two you’d become delirious, extremely ill, and within another day you’d fall into a coma and die.

I’d like to draw a parallel between our vital need for water to live, and our need of forgiveness from God to have eternal life.  It is true, we’re all going to die someday.  On that day, we’ll stand before our Maker and give an account of our lives.  And if you’ve ever lied, or stolen or used God’s name in vain, or broken any of the Ten Commandments, you would stand before the Judge of the Universe guilty.   And because you’d be guilty of crimes against a holy and righteous, eternal God, the punishment is an awful and horrible, eternal punishment, and that’s called Hell and I don’t want that for anyone, and God certainly doesn’t want that for you.  But some would say, if my good deeds outweigh my bad, then I’ll make it to heaven.  Or, I’ve heard others say, “I ask God for forgiveness”.   Try either of those in a court of law, say “judge, it is true I’m guilty as charged, but I’ve done a lot of good deeds, and I’m really sorry”.   Will you drop all the charges against me?  The judge, if he’s an honest and good judge will say, “I’m glad you’re sorry, you should be and it is a noble thing that you’ve done those good deeds, but that doesn’t influence me or have any bearing on the verdict.   He would be bound by the law to execute justice.   The same goes with God, (in fact to a higher degree).    But God, the Judge Himself, has satisfied justice for us, so that we won’t have to suffer the punishment for our sins...

The Gospel goes here...

I’d like to just leave you with the words of Jesus. He said, "Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a well of water springing up to eternal life."