You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:6-8
 
 
The beach looked like any ordinary beach. The beige sand squished beneath my feet as I walked closer to the water. The large grey rocks behind me belied the historical significance. I felt transported back into time and into a place foreign to me. Yet, as I stood there, I felt a part of something bigger, something larger than myself, and something of great magnitude.
 
The place was Omaha Beach on the shore of Normandy, France, just days before the 74th anniversary of D-Day. Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne division moved silently where their ancestral comrades lived and died. From where I stood, I could see all the flags of the Allied countries being raised one at a time while the strains of each country’s national anthem played in the background. It was a poignant scene.
 
As the music to The Star-Spangled Banner reached my ears and my eyes beheld the stars and stripes rising on the tall flag pole, more than a lump caught in my throat. To me, D-Day and World War II had been something in the past and not my own past. Standing on Omaha Beach that day, I sensed the significance in a way that no history book could impart. My heart broke for the thousands of soldiers who died, particularly in those first two days during the Battle of Normandy. To them who fought the ocean current only to be struck down before they reached the shore, I gave a silent prayer of thankfulness for their lives and sacrifice as well as for the many who were laid to rest not far from where they fell and from where I stood. As my eyes blurred with tears, I realized the true cost of freedom. Without those brave soldiers and paratroopers who faced death so that those they had never met would be free struck a chord deep within me. As a turning point in World War II, the Battle of Normandy was incredibly significant. And it reminded me of something else even more significant.
 
Freedom doesn’t come cheap. Just as the sacrifices made on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and beyond freed the French people and turned the tide of a maniacal dictator and perhaps preserved the freedom of the rest of the Western world, the sacrifice of Jesus and His death on a cross frees us. Dying a criminal’s death, Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we can know God, not as just a deity in the sky but as a personal Lord and Savior. Jesus purchased our freedom, freedom from the entanglement of sin, freedom to know and love God in a personal way, freedom to live life more fully, and freedom to live with God throughout all eternity.
 
In the sacredness of that moment on Omaha Beach, God touched my heart in an unexpected way. The cost of freedom is heavy. I am so thankful for those who gave their lives so that others would be free, for those who suffered injuries in the name of freedom, and for those who survived but carried the horrors of war home in their memories.

Yes, the cost of freedom is expensive. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the Savior who died for each of us to purchase our freedom. Thanks be to God for His undying love for us that in dying for us, He saved us and set us free.
 
 
Lord, thank You for paying the price for my freedom so that I am set free, free to love and worship You, free to live with You for all eternity. May I never take for granted the cost of freedom. Amen.
 
 
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Text and photograph copyright © 2018 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of Omaha Beach and Les Braves Monument by sculptor Anilore Banon, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France.
 
 
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  John 4:13-14
 
 
She stumbles forward in the heat of the day. Alone. Thirsty, parched, and tired under the burden she carries. Little does she know who is waiting for her. He, knowing she would be there, travels off the usual route to ensure they meet.
 
In this familiar passage from John 4, Jesus intentionally travels through Samaria instead of around it and stops at Jacob’s well. It’s the middle of the day and hot. A woman hurries forward towards the well, as if she doesn’t want to be seen. Carrying a large water jar, she pauses, noticing Jesus and realizing He is watching her. He, a Jew, initiates conversation with her, a Samaritan woman. How surprised she is to realize he is addressing her! He asks her for a drink and moments later, she is asking Him for water, for she is thirsty, both physically and spiritually. Jesus offers her living water, water that will quench her thirst, that will satisfy the longings of her heart.
 
Although the source of physical water in this Biblical account is found in an ancient well, often in Bible times, water was housed in cisterns. Each home had its own cistern, a reservoir that collected water, often rain water. Cisterns were constructed of stone, usually excavated from rock. Filled with water, cisterns provided the necessity of life for people in this arid climate.
 
Cisterns fulfilled their purpose until they developed cracks. When the water leaked out, the cistern was no longer usable. Instead, often these dry cisterns were used to hold prisoners, like Joseph in Genesis 37.
 
How much like these cisterns are we? Do we become cracked and dry, unable to hold water, the purpose for which we were made? Do our “wells” run dry due to busyness? Are we pursuing dreams of success, power, wealth? Are we chasing after beauty and the fountain of youth? Are we running after love and acceptance? If so, perhaps the pursuit leaves us drained, unsatisfied, and empty.
 
The woman at the well can relate. She has been pursuing love and acceptance only to find herself ostracized and lonely, not even comfortable drawing water from the well with the other women in the cool of the day. Jesus meets her where she is. He has compassion on her brokenness. He offers her the living water of eternal life so she will never thirst. She is changed and becomes light and hope to her village as she runs off to share the good news.
 
Jesus longs to fill us with His living water, water that will never leave us thirsty, water that satisfies like nothing else can. His love can heal the broken places so we can hold the living water, even to overflowing to others around us, in hopes that they, too, might offer their own cracked cisterns up to Jesus to heal and fill them. Jesus came so that we might have life, true life, and have it to the full, overflowing with love for God and love for others. Instead of pursuing that which will never satisfy, pursue the One who will fill you to overflowing. And that, my friend, is the only thirst worth quenching.
 
 
Lord, You are the Living Water and You long to fill me with Your love and presence. Heal the broken places in me and fill me to overflowing so that others may see You and Your compassionate and redeeming work in my life and want Your living water for themselves. Amen.
 
 
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Text and photograph copyright © 2018 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of Wahkeena Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon.
 
 
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™