About
Geraint was a brave young man who once served the Lord Rhys at Carreg Cennen, a Castle overlooking Mynydd Du, the Black Mountain in the Brecon Beacons mountains of Wales. Once, when suffering under a long siege, Lord Rhys complained aloud of thirst. Now Geraint was a compassionate man of noble heart, and so upon hearing his Lord’s complaint, he was quick to his feet. Lord Rhys called for Geraint to stop, and forbade him to try and make it to the river outside the walls in the valley below the castle. Geraint swore to obey, but he ran from the room nonetheless. Lord Rhys wondered where he could have gone. He knew Geraint would not disobey him, and he could not imagine Geraint would have kept water for himself secretly when all the men had been thirsty for so long.
After a bit, Rhys consulted a trusted advisor who wondered if Geraint would have tried to access a spring of water, deep within the earth, under the castle. It was accessible only from a cave entrance in the side of the cliff below the castle wall, and so would have meant a dangerous climb. Rhys and his men rushed to a place on the castle wall where they could peer down the cliff into the gorge. Sure enough, there was Geraint in the moonlight, a leather flask in his teeth, climbing up the rock face. The enemy had seen him too. Arrows sparked around him as he made his way back up towards the safety of the castle walls. When Geraint was struck, he fell without a sound. But his martyrdom was enough. Lord Rhys was enraged with the shouts of delight from the enemy, and so he rallied his men, ordered the gates opened, and they rushed out to a quick and forceful victory that very night.
I believe that deep within the world there is a spring. And I think every story in the world echoes the secret of that spring. It was set in place the very moment God spoke. The fount of his Word, God’s expression of himself, was meant to refresh humankind and relieve them of the spiritual siege under which every man and woman suffers. Some who have heard the cry of humanity’s thirst have determined to climb under the surface of the world to seek out that spring. And we found it, and learned the secret.
And the secret . . .
I wonder if you’ll shoot me before I tell you?
The secret is that underneath the surface of the world we found a person. Jesus. God’s own word to express himself, and to refresh and heal our souls. Now, we climb back up with his refreshing words in our mouths.
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Bob Davies is a pastor in Ontario, Canada. Bob married his wife Michelle in 2003, and they have two children. He currently serves at Kanata Baptist Church, in the west end of Ottawa. The opinions expressed by Bob Davies on this website are his alone, and do not reflect those of Kanata Baptist Church or any other group or organization with which Bob Davies is or has been affiliated.