the Name of Christ

(Video link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxkvY2FZRQg )

The video from which the above image was taken (link in caption), shows how natives of the Kalahari Desert find water.  The small lifeless-looking stick which appears at the center foreground of the picture, just in front of the man's hand, indicates to him where to dig.  To anyone else, that stick would almost certainly have no significance at all.  But to those who have understanding, that stick can mean the difference between life and death, in a place where surface water may not be found for many miles around.


Merely a few inches beneath the surface of the desert sand is attached to that stick a large bulbous root which, according to its size (as the one pictured), holds enough water to more than satisfy the thirst of several persons (or to sustain one person on a very long journey).  The image below shows the man removing the large, bulbous root.

Notice the frail-looking stick attached to the root bulb

(crossing the man's right mid-forearm)

After the root bulb is lifted from its underground hiding place, the bulb is repeatedly scraped with a sharp-edged object (a split stick, or knife, etc.), in order to produce handfuls of shavings.  Those shavings are gathered in one hand and squeezed, which yields a surprising amount of water when expressed from the pulp.  The image below shows the same root, pictured above, after its surface was briefly scraped.

Notice the watery appearance of the root's fleshy interior.

It occurs to me that, in some way, the Name of Christ is very much like that insignificant-looking stick protruding just above the surface of the desert sand.  To the vast majority of people passing through the parched desert of this present world--all the while they are slowly dying of thirst for lack of any kind of spiritual 'water', the Name of Christ evidently means nothing to them.  And so they pass by the real life-giving Source, to which that precious Name is attached.  For, the actual Person of Christ -- not unlike that root bulb beneath the desert floor -- is hidden from the view of carnal (natural) senses.  In the Kalahari Desert, only by perceiving the meaning and significance of a certain stick can one discern the location of a storehouse of life-giving water, to which the stick is connected.

Likewise, in the world, only by perceiving the meaning and significance of a certain Name can one discern where to begin to seek for the Person of Jesus Christ, who is the Source and supply of spiritual 'water', that is to say, the wellspring of the living Spirit of God.  In the analogy, the Name of Christ is as the visible stick, signaling to the thirsty soul that he or she need not -- indeed, ought not -- to look anywhere else, but only to search out that life-giving 'root bulb' attached to the stick; that is to say, to seek out that Life-giving Person to whom the Name of Christ belongs.

Still, merely perceiving the meaning and significance of Christ's Name is not all that is needful, in order to live.  But one must then begin to 'dig', so to speak, in search of Christ Himself (though He is not hard to find).  Dig in the Word of God and in prayer until you find Christ, and then 'scrape' away at the Biblical revelation until, from plump handfuls of Scriptural knowledge, you may begin to squeeze out spiritual nourishment which will satisfy your thirsty soul.  In and among the world, the Name of Christ appears lowly and insignificant.  But to those "who know the joyful sound" of that most precious Name, that Name means Life.