In the 21st Century there are professionals that have well-driving businesses. They come onto a property with their big rigs and put down a pipe into the ground until they reach fresh water. Modern wells usually go deep enough they will never run dry.
Years I ago I lived in an 150-year old farmhouse with a well in the cellar that was only 20-feet deep. I know that because every couple of years we had to hire a well man to pull up the pipe and replace the screen at the bottom. One day it ran dry. There was just no more water at that depth. So, we had to hire one of those big rigs to come onto the property and sink a new well, this time much deeper.
In Bible days, wells were usually community places where everyone in the community came to congregate and resource water, a necessity for life. It was here that Jesus met thew Woman at the Well in John 4. He struck up a conversation with her about “Living Water” from a well within her that would never run dry.
That well is the Holy Spirit that resides inside every believer. It is possible to have the Living Water within us and yet die of thirst because we don’t drink. Don’t live a parched life; drink deeply. Take Jesus at His word.
Tags: thirst, water, well
We are now in a serious drought and no end is in sight. My lawn is brown and stopped growing weeks ago (except around trees where I’ve watered it). Growth on the newer trees is visibly retarded. The corn and bean fields are parched and harvest yields will most likely be seriously diminished.
Are there some lessons we can learn? Does lack of rain teach us anything?
- Lack of rain affects growth, just as lack of an outpouring of God’s Spirit hinders our spiritual growth.
- The ground cries out for moisture, just as the deer pants for water.
- Drought makes even unbelievers pray for rain.
- Rain is never appreciated as much as when it has been missed.
- You can’t make it rain; you can only wait for it.
David expressed this well in Psalm 63:1. Perhaps it would do well to make this your prayer in the desert:
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Tags: drought, dry, rain, thirst, water
During the early days of Operation Desert Storm, US Marine Corporal Robert Banner got separated from his platoon. Alone, he wandered in the desert for 48 hours hiding from the enemy, evading Iraqi scouts, and hiding under the sand in evasive maneuvers.
He was found by allied forces who happened to have reporters with them. He was recounting his story to the reporters who noticed he was gulping down water. A reporter commented, “You sure are thirsty!”, to which Cpl. Banner replied, “You know what, I was so busy running, I forgot I was thirsty.”
Is it possible we can get so wrapped up in doing “church” that we forget to thirst after God? Think about how thirsty you really are.
Tags: Desert Storm, thirst, worship
During the North African campaign of World War 2, some German troops became detached from their source of supplies in the desert. With their throats parched by the intense desert sun, they were overjoyed when they found a newly constructed British waterline. Shooting it full of holes, they fell on their stomachs and began gulping furiously.
But they realized something too late – the British had been testing the pipeline with salty seawater. Within 24 hours all of the Germans were dying of thirst. Recognizing the severity of their situation, they quickly surrendered.
How does God get us to quickly surrender? I believe sometimes he permits us to go too far, to get too much, and to experience deep failure. He permits this so we will turn to Him. Its a strategy that works well with hard heads like us.
Jesus taught a parable in which He said, “Go out…and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind” (Luke 14:21).
Tags: thirst, trials, trouble, World War II
When DeKalb County was first laid out by surveyors, it was laid out on a grid and divided into one square mile Sections. A Section would then be sold to families in Quarter Sections, or smaller amounts.
When I was a teenager I worked for a produce farmer in the southeast corner of this county. One hot summer day we were bailing hay and stopped for water in the center of a Section. A half mile from the nearest road, there was this huge old brick house, long abandoned. But it had an old hand pump outside that had the sweetest water you’ve ever tasted. When you’re thirsty and dry and covered with sweat and chaff, that well water was thoroughly thirst quenching.
The final words of the Bible, in Revelation 22:17, record: “Whoever is thirsty, let him come, and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Drink deeply while we still have time.
Tags: refresh, thirst, water
I attended the Super Senior luncheon this week. I happened to sit at the seat that won the doorprize, which was the French Lavender plant that decorated our table. I’m not much of a plant guy, but it looked nice and I knew Anita (who could not be there) would enjoy it. So I took this nice plant out to the car when I took my mother and mother-in-law back home. When I returned to the church, I forgot to crack the car windows.
When I went out to go home after work, I noticed the plant was pretty well cooked. It was seriously wilted and the potting soil dry as a bone. I added some water as soon as I got home and presented it to my wife as an expression of my love. She took a look at it and was not impressed!
We went out to eat with friends that night, and by the time we got home it was looking great again. Its amazing how quickly a plant can be refreshed. And its also amazing how quickly our spirits can be refreshed when we have a fresh experience with God. The dryer things become, the more we should seek after His thirst quenching presence. Get refreshed.
Tags: revival, Romance, thirst