Friday, May 24, 2013

How About Another Drink of Cool, Clear Water?


"Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst, but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." (John 4:14)

Hey Gang:  As we learned in the last Gramps Morningthoughts, everyone who traverses the deserts of our world learns quickly that water is the source of life.  Without it, life in the desert is always on the brink of death.  Plants and animals of the desert teach us about this.  Their ability to find and store water is the key ingredient to their survival.  

To pick up a desert plant is not a good idea for most have spiny leaves and tough surfaces which cuts evaporation.  The acacia tree, a thorn tree, a tree that grows in the most desolate places, is capable of sending roots down thirty feet to find water.

God also created desert animals to live with little water.  The camel, which many say is a horse designed and constructed by a committee, is an absolutely amazing animal.   The longest trek for a camel without water on record is 600 miles in 21 days.  Contrary to popular believe the hump of the camel is not a reservoir for water storage.  Water is stored in the corpuscles of the blood stream which can expand 240 times their original volume.When the camel drinks, after being without water for prolonged time, it is capable of drinking 400 pints which is immediately dispatched to the red corpuscles to replenish the water supply.

The Bedouins refer to dehydration as the silent killer.  It does not come quickly but rather creeps up on you.  Even the seemingly natural signs of thirst are not felt.  When in the desert, water is a matter of discipline.  Thirst is not a warning sign.

In the Scripture of the day Jesus is shares the good news that there are two kinds of water available to us.  There is the faucet type, that is readily available in modern society and is essential to life and well being, but Jesus is talking about a far different type of water - a spiritual life-sustaining water that comes only from Him. the need for living water
Spiritual thirst,(the lack of which is also a silent spiritual killer), is the dominating factor in the lives of all human beings.  It begins with a deep longing for something to fill that vacuum in our chest cavity that is just the size and shape of God.   We go through our lives seeking things that will satisfy that vacuum and yearnings of our heart. We often fill it with things that do not bring honor and glory to Abba Father.  Paul said, "I do the very things I hate," and "What a wretched man I am "Who will rescue me from the body of death?" (Romans 7:21-24) 

Soooo, my young colleagues, having spent time in the Arabah (desert) of Israel, I believe I gained a better understanding of what Jesus meant when he said to the Samaritan woman, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst, but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up top eternal life." (John 4: 13-14).

A sign of our entrance into the Promised Land is adequate spiritual nourishment that comes with our covenant relationship to God through Jesus Christ but to secure this we must dig a well deep enough to assure adequate water.  Keep in mind it takes two people to dig a well, one to dig and the other to haul the diggings away.  One last point before we close for this day, a well must be maintained consistently and constantly - to neglect the walls of the well is to see them collapse after a period of running the bucket up and down to claim the water.  Have you maintenanced your well today? Have you had a fresh drink of Living Water?

Blessings,

Gramps

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