Some years ago, around about 1950, my dad had a water well drilled on the farm where my grandfather and dad were to build a new house. The water well was first drilled and then the house was to be built next to the well.  At the time, it was a good well, but during the following seven years there was little rain that fell and a great drought that followed, The water table underground dropped and the water in the well became very hard with a lot of mineral deposits and begin to fail to produce enough water for us and then went dry.  In that we needed a water supply for our house and yard, my dad had several other wells drilled, but they were dry wells. Finally, the driller drilled a well that hit an underground stream soft water, but it was located about a quarter of a mile away from the house. Another problem was that the well only produced a small about of water per minute; therefore, my dad put a windmill on the new well instead of an electric pump. Next, he laid a pipe line from the well to to where our house was built.  I remember helping my dad in digging a deep hole in the ground so that he could build a large underground concrete cistern (about 8' X 8' X 8').  My dad also had a concrete slab poured on top of the cistern, then he put an electric pump on top of the cistern with a pressure tank.  The windmill would day by day pump a small stream of water through the pipe to the cistern as the wind blew. When the cistern was filled with water, we had all the water we needed and the electric pump would give us water under pressure for the house and the yard.  The system worked great even through those dry years and beyond. The above graphic somewhat illustrates the system and and how the system worked.

    God has shown me some spiritual analogies that I would like to share.

1. First, my Dad had several other wells drilled before the driller found a underground stream or lake of water. The underground lake of water represents the true and living Word of God. People can dig wells into all kinds of beliefs, religions, and philosophies, but they are dry, lifeless, and wasteful burdens. The source of life only comes when we drill into the water of the Word of God. I should also note that paraphrased versions of the Bible and even commentaries about the Word may be easy reading, promising, or appealing, but they can also give false, twisted or confusing beliefs that lead us astray. However, the true Word of God can produce living water for us even through the times of drought.

2. You don't see it in the above picture of the prop, but  the wind which operates the windmill is blowing most all the time in West Texas. The wind causes the fan on the windmill to turn and the gears inside the gearbox to move that causes the pump rod or sucker rod to move up and down.  However, the individual has a free choice whether or not he allows the wind to turn the blades of the fan. There is actually a brake or cut off lever that one can use to stop the fan from turning even when there is a strong wind. The wind represents the Holy Spirit (or Breath of God) who moves us to get into the Word of God. However, we have a free choice whether or not we allow the Holy Spirit to move us to get into and bring up the water of the Word.

3. As the wind causes the fan at the top to turn, the gears in the gearbox causes the pump rod move to downward inside a pipe leading to the water in a lake or stream of underground water. The valve in the pipe at the bottom opens allowing water to enter the main pipe. When the pump rod moves upward, the valve on the pump rod closes and lifts a small amount of water upward and causing it to flow into the pipe which is connected to the cistern some distance away. This is a picture of us daily spending time in the Word of God. It is an Holy Spirit inspired discipline. I should also say that this can become a battleground between us and our enemy, who doesn't want us to know the Word of God.

4. As illustrated, the water from the windmill flows through the pipe to a cistern at the house. Again, the windmill only produces a small about of water daily and it took at least several very windy days or even a week or more for the water to fill the underground cistern. As the water was used for our household, it also had to be replenished as well. From the time that God gave me the vision to rewrite this article and build this 14" X 18" prop, it has taken me over a month of daily designing and working on it. We are to daily fill the reservoir of our soul with the Word of God, but it is done little by little. We are to read, memorize, and meditate upon the Word and apply it in our lives.

5. The pump on top of the reservoir that produced the water pressure for the house, yard, and garden represents the Holy Spirit ministering the Word of God to ourselves and others. Again, there has to be water in the cistern for the pump to work. However, it can be a beautiful picture of storing up Scripture though memorization and meditation in the reservoir of the soul that the Holy Spirit can bring to mind at the appropriate time for ministry.  "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26). If the reservoir is dry, the ministry of the Word is severely limited.  Personally, if I get too busy to memorize and mediate upon the Word, God limits my ministry.  Then I have more time to spend in the Word.  Then as I spend more time in the Word, then I begin to get more opportunities to minister effectively the Word. It is not uncommon in counseling, that the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at the appropriate Scripture which I memorized years prior to meet the current need.

Exodus 13:9

"And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD'S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt."

"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:"

"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

"And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes."

"And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

"Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes."

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

"The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide."

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

"I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways."

"Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me."

"I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation."

"I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts."

"The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple."

"He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live."

"My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:"

"That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge."

"My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:"

"Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck."

"When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee."

"My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee."

"Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye."

"Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart."

"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

"Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old."

"A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things."

"It is the sprit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all."

"Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:"