Do you remember being so desperately thirsty you would drink almost anything? Working and playing outside in the heat of summer demands that we stay hydrated. We are advised to drink water before we feel like we need it to avoid dehydration.
The first year I played football in high school I was introduced to August "two-a-day” practices. This was “back in the day” when coaches thought part of conditioning was not allowing players to have water until the practice was over. They apparently thought this would make us tough.
At one point in the practice, the coaches had us running laps between drills. While running in the August heat with full pads, I noticed a ditch next to the field with water flowing through it.
Yes, I did.
I was so thirsty, I ran down the ditch, scooped a handful of water, and ran back up and rejoined the rest of the team.
You say, “That is disgusting?”
Yes, it is.
"It could have made you very sick!” you add.
You are right
How could I do it?
I was desperate.
I may have been on the verge of heat exhaustion and was so thirsty I wasn’t thinking logically.
While everyone knows what it is like to be thirsty and hungry, I suspect most people have never been without water and food long enough to nearly die.
God uses our understanding of physical thirst to help us understand spiritual thirst. We may not realize it, but we need the Spirit of God in our lives even more than we need water.
A woman in Jesus’ day had such a bad reputation, she would only go out to draw water from a well during a time when no one else would be there—the hottest part of the day. Jesus met her there and said,
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 4:13-14).
God offers “water” that not only satisfies our deepest thirst but also becomes a spring providing living water for others.
If you were desperate for water, what would you pay for it?
Anything.
If you realized you were spiritually dying of thirst, what would you pay for water; living water—spiritual satisfaction?
Surely, you’d pay anything.
Prepare to be shocked…
Those who are desperate for God, for His living water, that quenches the deepest thirst of our souls, may have it for FREE!
Sure, it sounds unbelievable. Some will surely say, "What? Free? No way! It can’t be!”
But it is free. God offers Himself, His satisfaction, and His forgiveness to us without cost!
God calls out to all mankind,
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost (Isaiah 55:1).
So, are you thirsty?
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God (Psalm 42:1-2a).
Yes, He is the same One who created us, died for us, and one day will judge us.
But today, He offers to forgive and satisfy our thirst.
In His Revelation, He announces,
“It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life” (Rev. 21:6).
Don’t try to satisfy your soul with the filthy ditch-water of this world and religious games.
Go to the Lord and receive His living water!
Once you do, He will quench your deepest thirst and you’ll become a spring overflowing with His living waters to others!
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (Jn 7:38).
If you are ready to surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ and drink deeply from the water of life, turn to Him and trust Him now.
We would love to hear from you and help you to follow Christ. Just contact us!
For information on how you can help drill wells and provide water for a thirsty world, please visit Samaritan's Purse:
