So Facebook and social media are presently filled with people pouring ice cold water on themselves and asking others to do the same – all in the name of charity… “Pour cold water on yourself to serve others.” Sadly, we are finding out that several people may have died from the challenge, and warnings are popping up asking people to “not rise to the challenge.” So maybe it is time to take a different twist on it and engage in the “cold water challenge” that Jesus provided… “Give a cup of cold water to someone else to serve them with hospitality.”
As I mentioned in my previous post, to give someone a cup of cold water in Jesus’ day required effort – it meant doing a little extra to serve someone else through your hospitality. It meant more than just taking care of their thirst by pouring them a glass of room-temperature water from the water urn. Instead, it meant taking another trip to the well or the stream to get a fresh cup of cold water.
But another aspect regarding this idea of a cup of cold water is that anyone could provide this cold water to someone else. It didn’t require wealth. It only required effort. A cup of cold water was a blessing that even the poorest person could give to another. It would simply take the effort of going to the well and drawing the water.
This helps to teach us that kindnesses and hospitality are valued in Christ’s kingdom, not according to the cost of the gift, but according to the love and affection of the giver. This takes us back to the idea that God desires mercy & compassion for others to exist in us more than He wants us bringing an offering to the altar.
So the idea is that if you are truly full of the grace of God, you can also be truly rich in good works, even if you are poor according to the world’s standards. God desires us to sacrifice our own desires to care for others, and no matter who we are we have the ability to provide care for others. And we are to do it with the right heart.
So take Jesus’ “Cold Water Challenge” today and richly serve someone else.
How have you seen people show hospitality to others without having to use the world’s “wealth” to do so?