Thirsty, anyone?

I admit I have been guilty. Guilty of drinking from the well to satisfy my thirst--guilty of trying to do things my way, in my time, and in my strength. Is it any wonder I end up dry and parched and thirstier than ever? Why is it that we always drink from our own wells? We attempt do things for ourselves without even giving a thought to asking God for his insight and help? I know we are taught early on to be independent, but by leaving God out of the equation we only set ourselves up for failure. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He knows that we can either stumble along on our own or we can soar with Him.

God gives each one of us a personal invitation. An invitation to come to Him. "Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fair." Isaiah 55:1-2

What God is offering is not temporary…it is free nourishment for our soul and it is eternal. Everything else in life satisfies for such a short time. Food tastes delicious at the moment but as soon as it is devoured its taste fades. Money buys material possessions, but once we have them, they no longer satisfy and we crave more. Vacations are great fun, but quickly fade to distant memories. Only a growing relationship with God can give us the nourishment for our soul that sustains and empowers us. We need the Living Water that flows from the throne of God. This Living Water is Jesus.

In Jeremiah 2:13 the Lord says, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Remember the story of the woman at the well. She came to draw water from a well and met Jesus. He told her “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13

We are to thirst after God as we thirst after water. Jesus alone is the Messiah who can give us this gift that satisfies the soul’s desire. And it is not a one-time event. It is a moment-by-moment way of life. Furthermore, if we are to give back to others, we absolutely must be filled with God’s Spirit—filled with the Living Water, or we will simply not have anything worthwhile to give. How can we possibly encourage, inspire, or pour anything into the precious life of another human being if we have not been filled with the Living Water ourselves? We simply cannot give that which we have not yet received ourselves.

God gives us the choice from where to drink? We can drink from the well of our own cisterns or we can drink from the Living Water and never thirst again. I have a suggestion…why don’t we fill our empty vessels with Living Water. That God-shaped void in our lives simply cannot be satisfied with a career, money, a beautiful home, or even other people. It is designed to be filled with Jesus. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be thirsty again. I chose the Living Water.

"If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:37