Quenching my Thirst

I can think of times in my life that I have gotten busy working or playing outside and forgot to rehydrate myself. In fact, there are times that I do that when I am working around the house. I get so caught up in what I am doing, that I get thirsty without realizing it, or in the back of my mind I think, "I will get a drink as soon as I am finished with 'this'. " Whatever 'this' might be.

Anyway, by the time I am dying of thirst, there is only one thing I want to drink...water. Either cold or room temperature, it doesn't matter as long as it is wet. It can't be milk or tea or coffee or soda, it is only water that I crave. When I finally feel that water in my mouth, it sooths my entire body from head to toe. It tastes like sweet ambrosia. I feel cooler all over, I can think easier, I simply feel better.

When I first started studying the Word as an adult, I read the story of Jesus telling the Samaritan woman at the well about the Living Water. I really had difficulty understanding what he was saying. I thought, "Ok, is this allegorical? Is the Living Water a metaphor, a simile, what is he saying here? We can't live without water, so we can't live without God. Is that it? Is there more to it?" I studied the Word with my Bible study group weekly.

Then we moved and couldn't find a church in our immediate area, we tried churches that we used to attend, but my husband and I were having trouble finding a congregation that 'fit' us as a family. Some were too large or too small. Some didn't care about Bible study (shocking, isn't it?). Some taught things that were completely the opposite of what I understand the Bible to say. Some were laissaz-faire about their approach to God. Some were a little too focused upon judgement and not enough about helping. Some were a little too 'much' in terms of the 'drama' of the service. We were looking for something simple, where we could study the word and our children can grow in their love and understanding of the Lord. Not a 'popularity contest' type of place where people are showing off their works, but a place where they invite you to work together to show your love of Christ. We were looking for simply a 'community of believers.' Someplace that we knew was God's house.

Eventually, we went to see our Bishop down in Tennessee. He made some suggestions that we took to heart. We searched online for what he suggested and we found a small church that was built before the Civil War. There are a few younger families, only one other family with children the same age as mine, but it is an established community of believers. Although the style of service was more formal that I had previously been accustomed to, I was content with more formality for the service because it was so obviously with the intent of showing respect. It was a breath of fresh air.

After we started attending, I started getting lazy about my private Bible study. I had gone so long without studying with others that I didn't really want to make time in my schedule to add their Bible study to the time that I was taking to study my Bible. I liked the way I was doing things far too much. Then, I thought, "Well, I have been reading my Bible, I just don't feel like it today." One day turned into two, then a week, then a month. Our homelife started to become more chaotic again, frustration set in.

Then, the church announced they were starting a new Bible study on Mark. My husband and I discussed it and decided that we wanted to try it together. I opened my Bible and started reading.

I suddenly understood what Jesus meant by the Living Water. My soul was finally quenched after being so parched. I had been longing for Him, longing to spend more time with His Word, more time in His presence. I was simply longing for Him. I felt fresh and renewed. I could think again. It literally felt as cleansing to my soul as water does when I am thirsty. Now, I know how to never be thirsty again.

John 4:4-14

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Jesus answered, "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."

God bless