“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His faithful love endures forever!“                                  I Chronicles 16:34

Today I am praising and thanking God for water! Most of all, I am praising and thanking him that He is THE LIVING WATER!

When you are traveling away from home one of the first things you think about is water. Not just drinking it but using it!

Your first thought is, can I drink this water?Even if the people around me are drinking it, because I am out of the area and could get sick if I drink it. Then there’s the question of, should I brush my teeth with it? If I bathe in it, should I keep my mouth closed so I don’t swallow it?  

If your trip is more than one or two days, the answer is never,  I won’t drink water until I get back home! Nor is it, I won’t brush my teeth or bathe until I get back home! WE NEED WATER TO SUSTAIN OUR LIVES!

We are quickly reminded of how easily we can take it for granted when we are in a foreign place and it is not as easily accessible to us or safe for us to drink or use.

As I am following my Good Shepherd through Israel I am also thankful that He is also my Living Water!

“He lets me rest in Green Meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams.“      Psalm 23:2

My Good Shepherd leads me and guides me and even allows me to rest in green meadows that have been watered and are growing lush and full! He leads me to peaceful streams where the water flows gently and ever so calmly without feeling pushed or prodded!

In this crazy “go, hurry up and go,“ world that we live in, I need quiet peaceful streams that still provide the living water I need for my sustainment, but also bring me peace and calm. I know that connecting to the Living Water Himself, is the only way that I can get this in this crazy world we live in!

Jesus himself makes the clear distinction between the physical water we need for life sustainment, and the spiritual water that is essential for our souls!

“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that ask you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have giving you living water.”   John 4:10

As I take step after step and walk where Jesus walked, I am more aware of the culture he lived in during his 33 years of life on this Earth. The rich meaning of each word He spoke and each illustration He used make more and more sense, and come to life in a significant way!

As Jesus speaks here to the woman at the well, and asked her for a drink of physical water to quench his thirst, He is offering her living water that will give her eternal life in Him, The True Living Water!

I can see clearly now, when I look at where the well actually is, and how far the women would have had to carry all of the water in jars from the edge of town to their household, bringing all the water they needed for each and every day to sustain life.

In this one statement to this woman, Jesus is claiming to be all the sustainment that she needs for everything in her life!

He is claiming to quench her thirst. He is claiming to cleanse her and wash her clean. He is claiming to be the vital water that she needs to grow, and He is claiming to be the power that will give her the energy she needs to live this life!

Water is all of that and more!

Jesus is offering all of this to you and I as well. Are we willing to except it and to have the rest and peace that only He can bring us? Or are we still putting the Living Water God has put at our disposal into empty pails? Do we allow ourselves to go thirsty, to remain dirty, and parched and powerless by not accessing our Living Water?

C. S. Lewis puts it beautifully in The Chronicles of Narnia:

“Are you thirsty?“ Said the Lion.

“I’m dying of thirst,“ said Jill.

“Then drink,“ said the Lion.

“May I– could I – would you mind going away while I do?“ Said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl…

“I daren’t come and drink,“ said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,“ said the Lion.

“Oh dear!“ Said Jill, coming another step near. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.“

“There is no other stream,“ said the Lion.

There is no other stream friends! The Lord is our Living Water! Through Him our lives are completely and fully sustained!

We can reject this Living Water and wither away. We can accept this Living Water, put it in an empty pail and continue to be thirsty, dirty, parched and powerless! Or, we can receive this Living Water and have all that we need and rest in green meadows and walk beside peaceful streams!

TRUTH BOMB

There is no other stream…only the True Living Water will quench our thirst and provide us all we need!

Speak Truth Love