Around the Water Cooler

“For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” Mark 9:41

In 1971, when I was sixteen years old, I worked summers at Flowerwood Nursery in Loxley , Alabama , loading flowers and other huge, heavy plants onto huge tractor trailer rigs. The heat and humidity was unbearable and I made $1.40 per hour for my labor. That’s right you younger guys and gals, $1.40 per hour! I was taking home about $40.00 per week for this backbreaking work.

During one very hot and humid day, five black kids and I were loading the truck and we were extremely thirsty. There was a large 20 gallon water cooler sitting on the tailgate of the foreman’s brown Dodge pickup. One of the black kids was complaining about being very hot and thirsty. I saw a small, tin drinking cup next to the water cooler, so I put some of the cool water into the cup and gave it to the thirsty kid. The foreman (who was white) saw me give the cup of water to the black kid and he started cursing at me for letting the kid drink out of his cup. He also directed some hurtful racial comments at the kid. I told the foreman, “What’s the big deal? The kid’s hot and thirsty!” The foreman told me never to let another black person (he used the “N” word!) put his lips on his cup or there would be hell to pay!

Nothing seems more trivial than giving a simple cup of water to another person. Yet God remembers the heart and not just the cup of water itself. Small acts of kindness towards others will be rewarded and eternally remembered by our Lord. We don’t have to do monumental things to be noticed by God. I believe that our small acts of kindness toward others carry more weight with God than we think. He’s always watching! God Bless you.