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| Boating on Lake Victoria. Are you drinking from the right source? |
I’m not usually good at applying new information, but a podcast inspired me a couple of years ago.
The host spoke of maximizing his time, including rising early. To help himself wake up, by like 5 a.m. (yikes!), he did a couple of things – like switching on lights and drinking an 8 oz. glass of water before drinking anything else, even coffee.
As I am not a natural morning person, I began my mornings by switching on lights and drinking water. I have since become an avid water consumer, drinking multiple liters a day.
As a result, I’ve discovered something interesting - the more I drink water, the more I want to drink.
I am also a water advocate. I’m sure my students grow tired of my ever-repeated question, “Have you had any water today?” They tell me of their ailments, like headaches and flu*, and I ask nearly each one the “water” question.
Dehydration is very common here in Uganda and often leads to greater issues and concerns. It’s odd we would struggle to take water in this part of Uganda considering we receive a lot of rainfall and live near Lake Victoria and the Nile River - two of the world’s largest water bodies.
But, consuming water is not done by – what’s that fancy word? Oh, yes, “osmosis,” meaning we don’t absorb moisture through our skin, it must be consumed; it requires purposeful action.
This post is not about drinking the amazing clear, natural liquid God designed, but a greater thirst, which we need to foster and encourage because our souls, lives, and eternities depend on it.
Awhile back, I heard someone say, “You have as much of Jesus as you want.” Jesus doesn’t force us into a closer relationship with Him. But, He does draw us, waits for us to respond, and increases our “thirst” for Him, so we want more and more of Him.
We were created for relationship with Jesus and are never truly satisfied apart from Him.
But, in my “thirst” I admit I often seek other “thirst-quenchers.” This pursuit doesn’t really need much encouragement – my flesh, the world, and the Devil readily suggest “quenchers,” which may assuage thirst for a time, but then leave me more dehydrated than ever. They remind me of the Gatorade I would find in my grandparents’ fridge; it promised a lot, but delivered very little. As a girl, I would finish a glass and wonder why I had downed the Gatorade and not just gone for water.
She, too, had an unquenchable thirst and it had driven her to pursue men, not just one or two, but relationships with six different men. Those affairs had not met her deep need to be loved, treasured, adored, but left her “thirstier” than ever.
Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4 is one of my favorite of His interactions described in the Bible. I’ve heard the woman of Sychar wasn’t supposed to be at the community well in the middle of the day; drawing water takes place in the cooler morning or evening hours. It’s believed the community had ostracized her because of her loose lifestyle. The Jews hated the Samaritans and the Samaritans despised this woman. She was at the bottom of the ladder.
And, Jesus took time out of a busy ministry schedule to give her one-on-one time and attention, because she was desperately thirsty – not just for water from Father Jacob’s well, but from the eternal Source.
Before he sat down at that well, He knew absolutely everything about her; even more than her neighbors and fellow Sycharians thought they knew. But, He still sought her out, engaged her in conversation, spoke truth to her heart, and supplied what no mortal man could ever promise or fulfill.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
Once the woman “tasted” of the Living Water, the “spring” began welling up in her and she likely became the first Sycharian evangelist.
“’Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’” she excitedly proclaimed to the townspeople (vs. 29). Unable to contain this good news, she returned to the very people who had shunned her. Her painful past was erased; it had been washed away by the Living Water.
She had “tasted,” been satisfied, and likely would not return to those imitation “quenchers.”
Do you want to be “thirstier” for Jesus? Then pray for it, spend time with Him at “the well,” and the more you drink of Him, the more you want of Him.
The host spoke of maximizing his time, including rising early. To help himself wake up, by like 5 a.m. (yikes!), he did a couple of things – like switching on lights and drinking an 8 oz. glass of water before drinking anything else, even coffee.
As I am not a natural morning person, I began my mornings by switching on lights and drinking water. I have since become an avid water consumer, drinking multiple liters a day.
As a result, I’ve discovered something interesting - the more I drink water, the more I want to drink.
I am also a water advocate. I’m sure my students grow tired of my ever-repeated question, “Have you had any water today?” They tell me of their ailments, like headaches and flu*, and I ask nearly each one the “water” question.
Dehydration is very common here in Uganda and often leads to greater issues and concerns. It’s odd we would struggle to take water in this part of Uganda considering we receive a lot of rainfall and live near Lake Victoria and the Nile River - two of the world’s largest water bodies.
But, consuming water is not done by – what’s that fancy word? Oh, yes, “osmosis,” meaning we don’t absorb moisture through our skin, it must be consumed; it requires purposeful action.
This post is not about drinking the amazing clear, natural liquid God designed, but a greater thirst, which we need to foster and encourage because our souls, lives, and eternities depend on it.
Awhile back, I heard someone say, “You have as much of Jesus as you want.” Jesus doesn’t force us into a closer relationship with Him. But, He does draw us, waits for us to respond, and increases our “thirst” for Him, so we want more and more of Him.
We were created for relationship with Jesus and are never truly satisfied apart from Him.
But, in my “thirst” I admit I often seek other “thirst-quenchers.” This pursuit doesn’t really need much encouragement – my flesh, the world, and the Devil readily suggest “quenchers,” which may assuage thirst for a time, but then leave me more dehydrated than ever. They remind me of the Gatorade I would find in my grandparents’ fridge; it promised a lot, but delivered very little. As a girl, I would finish a glass and wonder why I had downed the Gatorade and not just gone for water.
She, too, had an unquenchable thirst and it had driven her to pursue men, not just one or two, but relationships with six different men. Those affairs had not met her deep need to be loved, treasured, adored, but left her “thirstier” than ever.
Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4 is one of my favorite of His interactions described in the Bible. I’ve heard the woman of Sychar wasn’t supposed to be at the community well in the middle of the day; drawing water takes place in the cooler morning or evening hours. It’s believed the community had ostracized her because of her loose lifestyle. The Jews hated the Samaritans and the Samaritans despised this woman. She was at the bottom of the ladder.
And, Jesus took time out of a busy ministry schedule to give her one-on-one time and attention, because she was desperately thirsty – not just for water from Father Jacob’s well, but from the eternal Source.
Before he sat down at that well, He knew absolutely everything about her; even more than her neighbors and fellow Sycharians thought they knew. But, He still sought her out, engaged her in conversation, spoke truth to her heart, and supplied what no mortal man could ever promise or fulfill.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
Once the woman “tasted” of the Living Water, the “spring” began welling up in her and she likely became the first Sycharian evangelist.
“’Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’” she excitedly proclaimed to the townspeople (vs. 29). Unable to contain this good news, she returned to the very people who had shunned her. Her painful past was erased; it had been washed away by the Living Water.
She had “tasted,” been satisfied, and likely would not return to those imitation “quenchers.”
Do you want to be “thirstier” for Jesus? Then pray for it, spend time with Him at “the well,” and the more you drink of Him, the more you want of Him.
“Feed” your thirst for Jesus, the Living Water.
*“Flu” in Uganda basically means anything resembling a cold.
This post was partially inspired by “Free to Thirst,” a chapter in Rebekah Lyons’ book “You are Free: Be Who You Already Are.”
