Pure Water
Martin Riese, the rock and roll star of water sommeliers says this:
Water is our most important resource on the planet.
Water is the ultimate sustainability superhero, flowing through our lives with unrivaled eco-friendliness! While other beverages might quench our thirst, water takes the crown for its minimal indirect water usage. Think about it: from the seeds planted in lush fields to the bustling factories churning out refreshing drinks, water is the unsung hero behind it all. It doesn't need fancy packaging or extensive processing—just a good ol' sip straight from the source. So, raise your glass (or reusable bottle!) to water, the OG sustainable sip that keeps our planet and bodies hydrated in style and dive into the world of water!
Most humans could only last about three days without water. In fact we are mostly water: we consist of between 60 and 70% water. Tragically, over one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and over four billion people experience severe water scarcity for one month a year. (Water Supply & Sanitation | World Water Council)
If we don’t drink enough water, we quickly become dehydrated. The consequences of dehydration are massive. The first stage is thirst, so your body preserves water, the kidneys send less water to your bladder, you sweat less, your body temp rises, your blood actually becomes thicker and slow moving so the cardiovascular system has to work harder. Your heart rate increases. The ability to think clearly is disrupted. The blood flow to your brain and the actual brain volume is reduced. If it continues, toxins build up and your kidneys fail. Your blood vessels start to harden, you overheat and our organs start to fail. The impact is catastrophic.
In the Bible, David describes his need for the living God like his need for water.
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)
David is writing this in the desert, literally in a dry and parched land. This expresses his need for God. Nothing else will satisfy. We have a spiritual thirst that affects us even more than dehydration and our need for water. We might call this thirst a longing or a yearning for more or for satisfaction. At Ocean Church we believe that we all have a soul and are all spiritual. We have a spiritual thirst.
But we satisfy this thirst in different ways. In the book of Jeremiah, God says this to his people:
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Jeremiah 2: 13
God’s chosen people - chosen to represent God and bless the whole world have forsaken Him as the spring- of living water- the mountain spring, pure and clean and they have instead dug their own broken cisterns to try and satisfy their thirst.
We do the same. We thirst, but then we look to other water sources- that are dirty and dangerous and don’t satisfy but instead make us ill. We dig our own broken cisterns.
Maybe your broken cistern is other people’s opinion of you, that is where you drink from. Or success, winning. Maybe it is a key relationship. Or food. Or comfort, or achievement or control. They’re often not bad things in and of themselves, but they’re not the ultimate thing. They’re not the ultimate source of living water.
Jesus talks about our thirst as well.
He meets a woman by a well in the heat of the day, and makes this crazy statement to her:
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
(John 4:13-14)
Jesus offers pure, perfect, crystalline water that completely satisfies thirst, and more than that amazingly then flows within us and leads to eternal life.
Living water is ultimate satisfaction. Jesus says that He has something that our soul needs every bit as much as our bodies needs water. If we go to any other source, our thirst just gets worse. Broken cisterns do not satisfy.
If we put the bucket of our soul into any other cause, any other relationship, any other hope, rest or beauty instead of Jesus, we will die of thirst.
Jesus gives purpose, love, hope and beauty that permanently wells up inside us. It is a spring that never ends - welling up to eternal life, not a broken leaking cistern that dries up.
Another Psalm puts it like this:
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Psalm 42: 1-2
Who’s feeling thirsty?
