When the Well Runs Dry

In one Western town, all customers with long-overdue water bills awoke one morning during a sweltering heat wave to find locked valves on their water inlets. With valves closed, wallets opened as if by magic, and the town's budget was finally balanced.

Most people will undergo almost any sacrifice to protect their own interests, when confronted with serious consequences. Only those with a true sense of responsibility will fulfill their obligations without having to be pressured by a threat.

God would prefer to have us act out of pure love for him and the desire to do his will perfectly rather than to be motivated by fear of punishment. But for poorly motivated or irresponsible souls, the threat of punishment is required - like the shut-off of a water supply. Someone has said "Many people get to heaven only by backing away from hell - a 'hell' of a way to get to heaven!"

As Paul and Barnabas reminded their hearers in Syria, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Whether these hardships entail suffering or simply obeying God's expressed will, Jesus tells us how to do it: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross...Whoever wants to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for me will find it" (Mt 16:24-25). It's better to pay the bill on time than to wait until the water is shut off.

This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net