"Jesus answered,'If you drink from Jacob’s well you’ll be thirsty again and again,but if anyone drinks the living water I give them, they will never thirst again and will be forever satisfied! For when you drink the water I give you it becomes a gushing fountain of the Holy Spirit, springing up and flooding you with endless life!'” -John 4:13,14 TPT
Have you ever had a day when you felt utterly empty? A time when you felt sucked dry by circumstances, people, or even your own thoughts? A moment when you wished you had superhero invisibility powers so you could disappear and reappear in another place and another time?
I have never had to walk through a desert, but I would think you might have similar feelings if you were stranded in a desert for more than a couple of hours on your own without water. And although I am not an expert on desert survival, I can speculate if you had to walk more than two days to find help, you might even die. Your uncomfortable situation would quickly evolve into a life-threatening condition simply because of the lack of one substance – water.
Interestingly enough, when one lives in a cooler climate, one may not even realize how much your body needs water. If you are a busy mom like me, you may remember to drink only two glasses of water, let alone the recommended eight glasses per day. (I should also add that on those days, I may feel no debilitating side effects. Because I have done it for so long, the thought of drinking more water seldom enters my mind.)
Despite our poor water drinking habits or our beliefs about water consumption, the reality is our bodies need water. Human life is composed of and sustained by water. If our bodies lose water, our death is inevitable. Certain situations and environments drain our bodies' water supply more quickly than others, but our need for water never ceases to exist regardless of the environment.
From these water lessons, we can draw many parallels to our spiritual lives. Even if we don't acknowledge our creator, it doesn't change the truth that we are His, and we need Him for survival. The spirit of God breathed on us to give us life, so the life we have within us is God's life.
"The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." -Job 33:4
Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created mankind in his own image." God created people, and a crucial part of us is composed of God. We can try to survive situations without Him, but it will never work because our bodies, souls, and, most importantly, spirits need Him for survival.
Now, if you are like me, you might have tried to get by without having a close relationship with God. You have always seen yourself as a self-reliant, determined, and productive person. You might have believed your decisions and actions could sustain you in life and also help you thrive. And everything seemed to be working out until the desert came….
I experienced this years ago, and one day I reached the point where I knew death was imminent. I am not saying I was physically dying at this point, but I recognized if I didn't change something soon, I might. I had died spiritually and emotionally. I was trying to live in survival mode, but I wasn't surviving. I was going to church and even reading my Bible "a little" because I knew it was what I was supposed to be doing, but I was drying up. As the intensity of life continued to heat up, I began to feel the severe effects of being scorched by the heat and being cut off from my life source. I have always told myself, "The death of a mind, heart, or soul is much worse than the death of a body. It is a silent killer; remaining undetected until it is too late to resuscitate."
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. -I John 5:12
One day, I decided to recognize the thirst in my soul and do something about it. I admitted I didn't indeed have life in me. I had death. I began to pour my heart out to God and ask Him to pour over me. I started to be intentional about how much I consumed of Him and His Word. I chose to look for ways He was speaking to me and then obediently responded.
It was a daily process of being intentional about "drinking enough water." Some days I drank the fullness of God in little sips, one verse or one prayer at a time. Other times I drank in big gulps through more profound revelation by the Holy Spirit. But every day, I had to make the choice to drink, and over time I began to experience true closeness with God and found John 4:14 to be true in my life.
"...but if anyone drinks the living water I give them, they will never thirst again and will be forever satisfied! For when you drink the water I give you it becomes a gushing fountainof the Holy Spirit, springing up and flooding you with endless life!” -John 4:14 TPT
We will never survive in the desert without water, and we will never thrive in life without the life-giving water of Jesus, the Holy Spirit. He is the one who floods our dry and empty souls and renews our inner strength. Only the power of God can secure our eternal destiny in Heaven and help us experience an intimate relationship with the Lord.
"But he also can turn a barren wilderness into an oasis with water! He can make springs flow into desert lands." -Psalm 107:3
Most of us will face a day when we feel empty and sucked dry by circumstances, people, or thoughts. We will have a moment when we wish we could disappear from life. It is in those moments; we will need life-giving water to restore our souls and spirits. We will need a deep source inside of us to breathe life back into us.
Let's Pray
Lord,
Show me today how I can drink deeply of your love. I need refreshed and invigorated by you and you alone. Let me dig deeper in your Word to discover the true source of my life. I want your life-giving water to flow abundantly inside and outside of me.
Amen
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