I only fairly recently started enjoying drinking water. Just plain, pure water. I am a tad fussy. I prefer it cold, and with ice, to enjoy it most.
Previously, it wasn't what I liked to drink. I pretty much always had squash (for Americans, that is a diluting juice, usually with added sweetrners and sugars - not pure fruit juice). Sometimes I had fruit juice of soda fizzy drinks. Virtually NEVER I just had water.
Then, I did Whole30 where you cut out ALL added sugars and sweeteners, and VERY limited fruit juice, so water it was. I learnt to love water more than anything else. SO refreshing and thirst quenching. Quite frankly, I don't know why I even liked those artificial tasting, overly sweet, squashes. I now can barely drink them. They taste pretty vile.
I have a daughter. My "I'm thirsty" daughter. My "well have a drink of water if you are thirsty" daughter. My "but I don't like water" daughter.My "well, you need to learn to like water" daughter.
I can see myself in her. I remember the days when it just wasn't what I chose to drink.
I was reading this morning, in John, about the woman at the well. It got me thinking about "the living water". Jesus, the water of life. Our souls should be satisfied with only Jesus. We should be going to His Word to search for Him, and we should be drinking in all that we can find and learn of Christ in the Word. We should go to it for guidance in our lives - go to Him in prayer for needed strength.
The thing is, it has become so easy to become "soda" Christians. It's so easy to go to other sources for our "thirst" to be quenched, when we really need the living water.
Like actual drinks, there are many things other than water that are not "bad". There is water with added vitamins, or herbal teas. Fruit juice in smaller quantities tastes great, and is not BAD in moderation. Some drinks have even been developed with great health benefits.
But, they are not water. Pure water.
Those remind me of the great sources we can go to that are "good" - books, devotionals, websites, blogs. There can be much benefit in learning from others. The content may be sweet to our "taste", and renew our spirit.
They are not ever going to be the same as going straight to the source for ourselves. Digging deep into scriptures, and pleading at the heavenly throne. Searching the scriptures for the answers we need, for the issues we face. Making sure that anything we do read is founded upon the Living Water.
Then, there are drinks that taste good, look good, but have no real benefit at all. They may hydrate, but they may actually be doing more harm than good. Caffeine laden drinks. Alchopops. Those squashes I used to drink with aspartame. High energy drinks. They all have underlying, potential hazards.
Going to worldly friends for advice. Reading worldly books for guidance. Having people rub us on the back when we are not behaving as Christians should, and saying "it's ok for you to feel like this". All things that seem to be ok, but are not at ALL going to the pure, clean Source.
ONLY Christ can satisfy. Only His Word can satisfy our thirst. Only the Lord can refresh our spirit.
We get thirsty in our spiritual life. The dry, barren spiritual conditions of this world that we live in give us a thirst. They make us feel dry and gasping. We mustn't just reach for the sweet and easy "thirst" quenchers. We NEED the Living Water.
It's so easy to step away from going to the Lord and His Word as our main source in our spiritual life. Putting our reading of it - our study of it - our drawing from it's satisfying depths - as the mainstay of our spiritual growth. Yes, using other resources, but not putting them BEFORE the quenching and strengthening supply of the Living Water. Certainly not relying on the saccharine-sweet and non-nourishing resources that would push to make their way in to be the main "hydration" in our spiritual life. Don't be tempted to only read and listen to the things that are sweet and attractive and EASY.
You will never be disappointed by putting the reading of God's Word a daily priority. You WILL be refreshed. You WILL be encouraged. You WILL be satisfied. You WILL be refreshed.
"And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Revelation 22:17
Previously, it wasn't what I liked to drink. I pretty much always had squash (for Americans, that is a diluting juice, usually with added sweetrners and sugars - not pure fruit juice). Sometimes I had fruit juice of soda fizzy drinks. Virtually NEVER I just had water.
Then, I did Whole30 where you cut out ALL added sugars and sweeteners, and VERY limited fruit juice, so water it was. I learnt to love water more than anything else. SO refreshing and thirst quenching. Quite frankly, I don't know why I even liked those artificial tasting, overly sweet, squashes. I now can barely drink them. They taste pretty vile.
I have a daughter. My "I'm thirsty" daughter. My "well have a drink of water if you are thirsty" daughter. My "but I don't like water" daughter.My "well, you need to learn to like water" daughter.
I can see myself in her. I remember the days when it just wasn't what I chose to drink.
I was reading this morning, in John, about the woman at the well. It got me thinking about "the living water". Jesus, the water of life. Our souls should be satisfied with only Jesus. We should be going to His Word to search for Him, and we should be drinking in all that we can find and learn of Christ in the Word. We should go to it for guidance in our lives - go to Him in prayer for needed strength.
The thing is, it has become so easy to become "soda" Christians. It's so easy to go to other sources for our "thirst" to be quenched, when we really need the living water.
Like actual drinks, there are many things other than water that are not "bad". There is water with added vitamins, or herbal teas. Fruit juice in smaller quantities tastes great, and is not BAD in moderation. Some drinks have even been developed with great health benefits.
But, they are not water. Pure water.
Those remind me of the great sources we can go to that are "good" - books, devotionals, websites, blogs. There can be much benefit in learning from others. The content may be sweet to our "taste", and renew our spirit.
They are not ever going to be the same as going straight to the source for ourselves. Digging deep into scriptures, and pleading at the heavenly throne. Searching the scriptures for the answers we need, for the issues we face. Making sure that anything we do read is founded upon the Living Water.
Then, there are drinks that taste good, look good, but have no real benefit at all. They may hydrate, but they may actually be doing more harm than good. Caffeine laden drinks. Alchopops. Those squashes I used to drink with aspartame. High energy drinks. They all have underlying, potential hazards.
Going to worldly friends for advice. Reading worldly books for guidance. Having people rub us on the back when we are not behaving as Christians should, and saying "it's ok for you to feel like this". All things that seem to be ok, but are not at ALL going to the pure, clean Source.
ONLY Christ can satisfy. Only His Word can satisfy our thirst. Only the Lord can refresh our spirit.
We get thirsty in our spiritual life. The dry, barren spiritual conditions of this world that we live in give us a thirst. They make us feel dry and gasping. We mustn't just reach for the sweet and easy "thirst" quenchers. We NEED the Living Water.
It's so easy to step away from going to the Lord and His Word as our main source in our spiritual life. Putting our reading of it - our study of it - our drawing from it's satisfying depths - as the mainstay of our spiritual growth. Yes, using other resources, but not putting them BEFORE the quenching and strengthening supply of the Living Water. Certainly not relying on the saccharine-sweet and non-nourishing resources that would push to make their way in to be the main "hydration" in our spiritual life. Don't be tempted to only read and listen to the things that are sweet and attractive and EASY.
You will never be disappointed by putting the reading of God's Word a daily priority. You WILL be refreshed. You WILL be encouraged. You WILL be satisfied. You WILL be refreshed.
"And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Revelation 22:17
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