May I Have Something to Drink?

(Note: I wrote this thought back in July 2011)

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is”

 Psalm 63: 1

“...And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the waters of life freely.” 

Revelation 22: 17

Dehydration is when your body loses more fluids than you actually take in.  It occurs when your body doesn’t have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions.  Extreme dehydration can lead to even death. What’s interesting is that most people are dehydrated and don’t even know it.  You only need to lose 2% of your fluids in order to be dehydrated.  It is said that when we feel thirsty, we are already dehydrated.  It has been said that  human beings can live weeks without food, but only a couple of days without water. Case and point: We need water or we will become dehydrated and eventually die.

As I sit and write this, I am on a personal vacation for two weeks to Italy.  Beside me is my most wonderful treasure: my Bible.  Next to my Bible is a tall bottle of Lilia Water that I purchased just a while ago. When I began my trip to Italy, I did not take into account the weather conditions on this side of the world. I knew it would be warm as most summers are in the Mediterranean, but I wasn’t prepared for the extreme heat conditions, humidity, and enormous amount of walking I would be doing.  My first couple of days in Rome were miserable.  I was tired, felt weak, and did not feel like myself. When I started my adventure to Italy and found myself not feeling so well the first couple of days, I continued to feast on sodas.  You see, I have never been a water drinker.  I’ve always been the one to head for the sugary soft drinks, my favorite being diet coke. Often, when I get thirsty (and it is very often), I rush for a soda.  It feels great for the moment, but usually within the hour, I am thirsty once again. Water is not desirable to me; never has been. I hate the neutral taste.  The first three days, as I progressively felt worse, the sodas did not take away the nagging thirst that began to feel like death to me. When I couldn’t take the thirst and weakness anymore, I ran to a snack stand and asked for a large bottle of water.  Within moments of drinking it, I felt my strength return. I began to desire it more than ever, realizing it was the source of my strength and the only way I could finish this trip in bliss. At this point in the trip, water has become my friend. Soda, my enemy. The words of my mumsy are so clear in my head, “Soda is no substitute for water”.  I realize that in order for me to desire water, I had to experience not having it.  My thirst had to become so deep that I had no choice but to trade in my soda addiction for a water addiction.  The benefits have been great, and even when I return home, I believe my new love for water will follow me. Now let's get to the spiritual application.

     Spiritually, many of us are dehydrated. The sad part is that many of us don’t even realize it. Just like many people think they are getting enough water, but are still dehydrated, it is the same with us spiritually. We think we have our fill of God, but truly, what we are doing is not truly quenching that deep spiritual thirst inside us.  What we are doing currently is just not enough.  Our spirit is calling out for more. The Spirit is calling out for more. We are thirsty for more--more than last year, more than last month, more than even yesterday. We need more of God.  We need more of the Holy Spirit. Tapping into the spirit is not always the easiest thing to do because there are other things that vie for our attention. Just like reaching for a cold, sugar-saturated soda is always more desirable than reaching for a clear liquid glass of flavorlessness (aka water), tapping into the Spirit is not always our first choice. Why? Simply because our flesh is weak.  Its not until we submit ourselves and do it anyways that the joy follows. I can recall so many times when I didn't want to pray, but I kneeled near my bed anyways.  After a couple of moments of praising God with my dry spirit, something would break forth inside of me.  Then I didn't want to leave His presence at all!  Like many things, it takes us actually doing it in obedience for the the joy to follow.  

When we’re thirsty, its so easy to fill ourselves with others things hoping that it will take away or quench our thirst. Often, when I feel hungry, I have found that I’m really just thirsty.  Many times, I have fed myself junk food thinking myself to be hungry, but really I was just thirsty. Spiritually, we reach for others things to fill us: television, internet, Facebook, work, friends, a great social life, hobbies, money. For each of us, it is different. Unfortunately, those things can never quench our true spiritual thirst. They were never meant to. They are just substitutes, which if not eliminated or reduced from our lives, can cause spiritual death. For all us, the solution is the same.  We must fill ourselves with more of Jesus Christ and allow him to give us spiritual nourishment and quench our spiritual thirst.

    A special note to singles, having a husband or wife will not fill you like many of you think it will.  The Samaritan woman in chapter 4 of John had five husbands and obviously, each of them failed to give her the fulfillment she longed for. She was left thirsty for something more. That is why when she encountered Jesus for the first time, he offered her himself.  Often, I have found that as a single, when I am anxious for God to bring me a mate, this is a thirst signal.  Often, I don’t want to acknowledge this because it forces me to have to shift my focus from dreaming about God’ prince charming for me to focusing on God alone.  The Bible says that we are complete in him (Colossians 2:10).  This means that in this moment, we have everything we need in Jesus Christ.  He is our fulfillment, our Joy, our comforter, our guardian, our true everlasting Lover of Lovers. No man or woman can ever take that throne. 
      For those of you who have yet to surrender your life to Jesus Christ, I make an invitation to you to take that leap of faith and call out to God. He wants to be your savior and fill that thirst in you.  Your soul was made to be filled by Jesus. If you take that step, wherever you are right now, God will meet you at your thirst point. You will find His love the most fulfilling and wonderful.

So what do you say?  Are you willing to dive deeper into the Spirit and allow Jesus to quench that thirst within you? The depths of the Spirit will leave your life drenched to the point that your life will overflow with Him.  In turn, what you have will flow into the lives of others.  The first step is to get on your knees and call out to him. Even if you don't feel it, do it anyways. You will find that your spiritual dehydration will begin to disappear and God will come in and saturate you with Him. It is refreshing and exhilarating!  It is life-changing! Go ahead and take a drink!