by Max Lucado
Where do you find water for the soul? Jesus gave an answer one October
day in Jerusalem. People had packed the streets for the annual
reenactment of the rock-giving-water miracle of Moses. Each morning a
priest filled a golden pitcher with water from the Gihon spring and
carried it down a people-lined path to the temple. He did this every
day, once a day, for seven days. “On the last day, that great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him
come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’ ” (John 7:37-38).
He “stood and shouted” (NLT). The traditional rabbinic teaching posture
was sitting and speaking. But Jesus stood up and shouted out. Forget a
kind clearing of the throat. God was pounding his gavel on heaven’s
bench. Christ demanded attention.
He shouted because his time was short. The sand in the neck of his
hourglass was down to measurable grains. In six months he'd be dragging a
cross through these streets. And the people? The people thirsted. They
needed water, not for their throats, but for their hearts. So Jesus
invited: Are your insides starting to shrivel? Drink me.
Internalize him. Ingest him. Welcome him into the inner workings of your life. Let Christ be the water of your soul.
Toward this end, I give you this tool: a prayer for the thirsty heart.
Carry it just as a cyclist carries a water bottle. The prayer outlines
four essential fluids for soul hydration: God’s work, God’s energy, his
lordship, and his love. You’ll find the prayer easy to remember. Just
think of the word W-E-L-L.
Lord, I come thirsty. I
come to drink, to receive. I receive your work on the cross and in your
resurrection. My sins are pardoned, and my death is defeated. I receive
your energy. Empowered by your Holy Spirit, I can do all things through
Christ, who gives me strength. I receive your lordship. I belong to you.
Nothing comes to me that hasn’t passed through you. And I receive your
love. Nothing can separate me from your love.
Don’t you need regular sips from God’s reservoir? I do. I’ve offered
this prayer in countless situations: stressful meetings, dull days, long
drives, demanding trips, character-testing decisions. Many times a day I
step to the underground spring of God and receive anew his work for my
sin and death, the energy of his Spirit, his lordship, and his love.
Receive Christ’s work on the cross,
the energy of his Spirit,
his lordship over your life,
his unending, unfailing love.
Drink deeply and often. And out of you will flow rivers of living water.
the energy of his Spirit,
his lordship over your life,
his unending, unfailing love.
Drink deeply and often. And out of you will flow rivers of living water.
What's Eschatology? by Doug Hall
Today's Bible Verse...
Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
Thoughts on Today's Verse...
We
live in an age where those who are older are often shoved aside. This is
true in the professional world with employees. This is also true in
churches which often find themselves pandering to those who are younger
or more financially powerful, while forgetting the aging and powerless.
Let's remember that God cares what happens to each one of us, no matter
status or stature or age.
My Prayer...
Almighty God, I know that you will never leave me or forsake me. I believe the promise that nothing can separate me from your love for me in Christ Jesus. But Father, I see so many who are older and forgotten that I must admit that I am frightened that I, too, will face loneliness and feebleness in those last days. Please give me confidence to cast my anxieties on you and trust in your presence. Most of all, Father, I pray that you will be glorified in my body in life and death, in health and sickness, and in youth and age. In Jesus' glorious name I pray. Amen.
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