DRY WELL

The blue expanse of water represents the grace of God. Spiritually, it represents the cleansing of sins, the giving of life to a parched soul, and baptism, which in itself symbolizes identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Water brings life, and Jesus is the living water.

Man is symbolized by the faucet. He is spiritually dry, but rather than turning to God to find life and meaning, he searches downward in the opposite direction, dependent upon himself. He makes progress digging deeper, yet remains unfulfilled and suffers drought. As a faucet is not designed to be disconnected from its source of water, so man is not designed to live independently of God. The faucet is positioned high to represent the close fellowship that is possible to experience with God, yet remains toppling in shifting soil.

The shelter man builds represents the hardness of his heart which keeps him from God. In the confinement of his pride and enjoyment of his sin, he convinces himself that God does not exist inside or outside of his world. Some, to appease their consciences, claim to worship God. Externally, they identify themselves with the blood of Christ (symbolized by red), but their worship is mere profession and vain works. They depend on baptism, church membership, or religious activity for entrance into heaven rather than on the redemptive work of God through Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Yet God penetrates the shelter and examines the true heart of man. He sees that pride remains, and that Christ, the living water, does not flow through them.

With great patience, God sends prophets (matches) to warn people everywhere of the Final Judgment by fire, that they might repent and be saved.

"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water" (Jer 2:13).