Discover His heart: He has filled us with living water so that we’ll never thirst again
When we’re really, really thirsty, there’s nothing as satisfying to quench our thirst as an ice cold glass of water – that is, if we take the time to drink it. The body is made up of 60-70% water; and on an average day, we lose 8-10 cups of it through breathing, perspiration and elimination. Because of this, most doctors and nutritionists encourage us to drink 6-8 glasses of fluid each day in order to keep the body functioning properly.
Thirst is the body’s way of telling us that we are already deficient in water, that somehow today we haven’t gotten what we need to replenish the body. We need to avoid this, but the problem is that when we’re not thirsty, water just isn’t all that appealing. Even though a refreshing glass of water is available to us, we don’t drink if we’re not thirsty, never thinking about how much we really need to drink it. The Bible has a lot to say on the matter of thirst.
@Isaiah 12
“In that day you will sing: ‘See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.’ With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation!” (1-3) Isaiah prophesied that God would deliver the remnant of Israel from captivity and provide a highway back to Jerusalem. (Isaiah 11:16) They would sing a song of victory similar to their song after the Exodus out of Egypt in Exodus 15:2. And with joy they would drink deeply from the fountain of salvation.
We can’t help but think of Jesus here, the one who is our salvation, who invited the Samaritan woman at the well to drink deeply from Him, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” (John 4:13-14) When we drink from His salvation, we receive access through the Holy Spirit to this bubbling spring of water to where we need never thirst again.
Well then, we might ask, if we have this bubbling spring within us, why do we sometimes feel so dry and thirsty? It could be because we’ve left the Source. When the Israelites sinned and rejected God, He said, “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!” (Jeremiah 2:13) We can drink all the soda or alcohol we want, but it’s not going to do for us what a drink of pure water will do. And spiritually speaking, we can connect to any other source we want in order to fill our spirits, but that source will never give us eternal life with God. Talk about thirsty!
We may feel dry and thirsty simply because we haven’t taken a drink. It’s like the old saying, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” We can stare at that refreshing glass of water all day, but if we don’t make an effort or take the time to pick it up and drink it, it won’t help us. Soon, we will begin to feel thirsty, but at this point we are already deficient. As believers, we need to understand that the fresh, bubbling spring is within us; and because of this, we can drink, drink deeply, anytime and never be thirsty again. Our devotional time is when we drink up His Word and drink up His fellowship – this is where we drink deeply.
If we find ourselves thirsty, if we’ve failed to drink, we have this invitation from the Source, “Let anyone who hears this say, ‘Come.’ Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.” (Revelation 22:17)
Moving Forward: “Cheers!”
Tomorrow @ Matthew 5-7
Phyllis Benigas 