Quench Your Thirst

Water is the essence of life as it is necessary to sustain all forms of life. An adult human body is made up of 50 to 60 percent water. Additionally, some organs have an even higher estimated water content, such as the kidneys (79% water) and lungs (83% water). Water is important for many vital bodily functions like regulating body temperature, aiding in digestion, flushing out waste, lubricating joints, delivering oxygen throughout the body, and providing a cushion around the brain and spinal cord. Therefore, water is an essential part of our lives.

Dehydration is the lack of a sufficient amount of water in your body, and the initial bodily response to inadequate hydration is thirst. Even mild dehydration can cause physical symptoms such as headache, fatigue, or dizziness. Therefore, you should drink water before you’re thirsty but especially start drinking right away once that thirst sets in.

Can you think of a time when you felt you were “dying of thirst”? Maybe it was after a long race. Maybe it was after working or playing outside in the gruesome heat for several hours. While you probably weren’t dying at that time, death can be a real possibility when water is scarce. It is estimated we cannot live without water for more than 3 to 7 days.

Just as we have a persistent physical thirst that needs to be quenched, we also have spiritual thirst that needs to be satisfied as David exemplified in Psalm 63:1: “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” When we become spiritually dehydrated, it can negatively affect all aspects of our lives. We can experience loneliness, anxiety, fear, apathy, anger, dissatisfaction with our lives, and can lose sight of our God-given purposes, among other things.

With physical thirst, we drink some water, and it restores our bodies. When we have a drought in our spiritual life, seeking out Jesus (our source of living water) via God’s Word, quiet time in prayer and reflection, and fulfilling the works God has called us to will restore our souls.

“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified,” (John 7:37-39).

If you’re like me, for the longest time I was not a fan of drinking water. It has no taste and just wasn’t satisfying for me. I would rather have drunk a Diet Coke or Coke Zero. However, I knew soda wasn’t good for me and that I wasn’t getting enough water throughout the day, so I stopped drinking soda and started making myself drink more water. What I found over time was that the more water I drank, the more I craved. The less I drank, the less I desired it.

We need water to live, and while not ideal, we can sustain ourselves with small amounts of it found in other foods and drinks. However, when you’re accustomed to drinking pure water daily, only that will truly quench your thirst.

The same can be said in our relationship with God. The more time we spend with Him and in His Word, the more we long to remain there. The more we allow ourselves to become influenced by the world and find pleasure in ungodly things, the more we begin to lose our thirst for the pure and perfect love of our Heavenly Father. “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God,” (Psalm 84:2).

When you think about the time you’ve been the thirstiest in your life, how did it feel when you finally swallowed those first blessed sips of water? It is nourishing, refreshing, rejuvenating, and thirst-quenching. Jesus and His living water do the same for us spiritually. He promises that if we accept the drink He offers us, we will never thirst again.

“Jesus answered her and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life,’” (John 4:13-14).

Everything requires water to survive, but through living water, Jesus will quench the never-ending thirst in our lives that stems from worldly drought. He is all we need. “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes,” (Revelation 7:16-17).

Ripple Effect

Have you ever thrown a rock into a still pond and watched the splash and subsequent ripples as they fanned outward from the source of entry? If you’ve ever observed a video showing this in slow motion, it’s a pretty cool phenomenon.

While we could dive into the science of this, I will try to keep it basic. Essentially, when something happens to disturb the norm, there are indirect consequences (which can be either positive or negative) from this disturbance that outwardly reach and affect more and more individuals or circumstances over time. This ripple effect can be used to describe a multitude of events, but I am going to focus on one specific biblical occurrence.

Jesus had an interaction with an unlikely woman which would lead to an even unlikelier ripple effect. You can read about this Samaritan woman, who is unnamed, in John 4:1-42.

Jesus was traveling back to Galilee, and although most Jewish people would have traveled around Samaria to avoid its citizens whom they looked down on, the Bible reads in John 4:4, “Now he had to go through Samaria.” Why Jesus had to go through Samaria in unknown, but I feel He had to go there because He had to interact with this specific woman for a specific purpose.

He came to a well and sat down beside it around noon, which would have been an unlikely time for anyone to come fetch water as it would have been the hottest time of the day. But as only Jesus could know, along came a Samaritan woman to the well to fetch some water. We learn later that this woman was an outcast among her own people as she had been married five times and was now living with a man who wasn’t her husband.

Jesus defied cultural, racial, religious, social, and gender norms at that time when He spoke to this woman, asking her for a drink. “The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans),” John 4:9.

Then, Jesus revealed His first purpose-offering His living water to this lost sinner. “Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water,’” (John 4:10).

After Jesus reveals to her that He knows the sins of her past and present, He completes His second purpose-revealing for the first time that He is the Messiah. “The woman said, ‘I know the Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you-I am he,’” (John 4:25-26).

This interaction and subsequent revelation from Jesus to the Samaritan woman set in place His third purpose-the ripple effect. “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?’ They came out of the town and made their way toward him,” (John 4:28-30).

“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony. ‘He told me everything I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world,’” (John 4:39-42).

A single conversation between Jesus and one sinful woman changed the norm and started a ripple effect which spread throughout an entire town and then on and on and on. The shepherd led one lost and lonely sheep to His living water, and many others followed the first to also drink from that spiritual well.

Are you making a ripple effect for Christ today? It can start in your home, in your workplace, in your church, etc. If so, is it a positive one leading others to His living water or a negative one causing people to turn away toward worldly drought? “Lord, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water,” (Jeremiah 17:13).

I am striving for a positive ripple effect, and I hope you are too. If we’re following the Lord and leading others to Him, His promise to us is sweet. “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-whatever they do prospers,” (Psalm 1:1-3).

Peace Like a River

A few weeks ago, I went on a quick kayak trip with my two boys down the upper Meramec River. I love being either on the water or in the water when the weather is sunny and hot.

Despite living less than a mile from the river, I don’t get the chance to go as often as I’d like. This summer, I made a point to spend more water time with my kiddos. I even went to relax by the river a couple of times by myself, enjoying the quiet time.

Lounging by the river is peaceful IF there aren’t a bunch of other people around. It’s hard to find a solitary river spot during the summertime where I live because my town is a huge camping and floating destination for those from urban and suburban areas looking to get away to the country for a few days.

However, if you can find that spot all to yourself, listening to the soothing sound of a babbling brook, there’s nothing quite like it, except possibly ocean waves breaking on the beach. Rivers are ever-changing and always flowing, which is why I enjoy them more than a lake or stagnant pond. There’s an old hymnal entitled, “I’ve Got Peace Like a River”, and I understand that simile well.

While I sometimes go near the water or out hiking in nature to find peace, I have discovered no greater peace than when I spend one-on-one time with my Heavenly Father. The tranquility, joy, and love He offers is true, transformative, and lasting, and you can’t find it anywhere or from anyone else.

“This is what the Lord says-your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea,’” (Isaiah 48:17-18).

When you’re on the river and following the current, it is peaceful, easy, and joyful. You make progress as you travel along the natural course. This is the same when we are following the Lord’s route in our lives. When we continue to abide by His ways and trust in His guidance, we will continue to find peace and fulfillment in life as we naturally flow toward our ultimate destination, eternity with Christ.

“Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long,” (Psalm 25:4-5).

However, have you ever tried to swim or paddle upriver? It’s not an easy feat. You may make some headway, but when you fight against the current, you’re going to struggle. Eventually, you will wear down and then you’ll be at risk of going under or tipping over.

Again, this is the same as our journey with the Lord. When we stop following the natural current leading us toward our Heavenly Father, we are going to falter. When we turn away from God and try to make it on our own against all the struggles and strife in the world, we may initially make a little progress, but we’re eventually going to drown.

You can’t traverse the river of life by yourself, and you can’t overcome a strong current without help.  When you find yourself in the struggle, go with the current and keep your head above water. Then, when you call out for help to your Savior, He will be there to rescue you from the depths, as promised in Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you…”

Where are you going or to whom are you going to find peace in this world? I can promise you that there’s only one place where you can find true, vast, and irrefutable peace like a river, and that is kneeling at the feet of Jesus. There is no greater peace or love to be found anywhere else.

“Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you,” (Psalm 25:20-21).

Have a blessed week!

-Becky