Thirsty?
I start my morning with a steaming tcup of coffee, cradling my hands around the warmth of the cup, inhaling the pungent aroma. After I make it to work, I usually make another cup of coffee in the Keurig machine. I teach, sip a Diet Coke for lunch, teach some more and usually around 2:00, I realize I’ve never drank one bottle of water all day.
We just installed the coolest drinking fountains in our school, the bottom is a regular drinking fountain, but on the top is a bottle-filler. You just place your own water bottle under it and it will tell you how much plastic you’ve saved, but even better than that is the cool refreshing water that fills the bottle. So, I take my cold water bottle back to my classroom and sip some refreshment, but before I realize it, the end of the day has come and the bottle is still quite full. Only now, the water isn’t so cool and refreshing. It’s sat around for a while and it’s stale and less appealing than it was before.
I know (in my head) that my body needs water, but I don’t notice that I’m thirsty until it’s already a problem. I don’t crave water, I don’t feel that thirst like I know I should. It’s probably because I’ve substituted other fluids in my diet and so I don’t sense my need to drink water. I also think that the flavors and scents of other beverages can sometimes make water seem pretty dull. It doesn’t excite me, while a latte can call out my name.
It reminds me of something Jesus said to the woman at the well. “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 livng water. ” (John 4: 10)
How many times do we come to church not really feeling very thirsty? We’ve satisfied our needs emotionally through all the bright lights and noises in our lives (i.e. TV, internet, shopping, eating….) It’s not that these things are bad, they can just dull our taste for God. The music isn’t quite up to par some Sundays, so we just take a “sip” of God’s presence or maybe the sermon seems a little boring (we’ve heard this before), so it seems stale.
Contrast that with the people in Africa who had severe droughts this past year. I doubt they would look disdainfully upon a bottle of water that wasn’t chilled. They knew the true meaning of thirst-desperate need for something they could not live without. In the same way, I’m seeing new believers who crave the Word of God like a sparkling ice cold glass of water on a hot day. They taste His goodness and they can’t get enough.
No matter how many glasses of water I’ve drank in my lifetime, I still need to drink 8 more today. My body needs it even if I don’t realize it. And no matter how I FEEL about reading the Bible or praying or going to church, my soul NEEDS it.
When I limit my beverages to only water, I drink it all day long. There is nothing to interfere with my thirst mechanism. IAnd, I’ve noticed that when I take quiet time away from the hectic technology driven world, I thirst God more too. also realized that the more water I drink, the more I crave it and miss it when it isn’t easily available.
If you aren’t feeling as thirsty for God lately, why not try a “fast” from outside distractions and focus your attention on God’s word until you find yourself longing for it again.
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4: 14)
Amen, I thirst for Him, always.
So true, Heather. Our body needs water as much as our soul needs to drink in the goodness of God.