Spiritual Training Cycle: Foundation (wk. 3/13)
Do you ever realize how needy we are? Seriously, our human biology testifies to the repetitive need to fuel ourselves. Before we make it to the bathroom in the morning, we need air to reach our lungs, food to ease the groaning in our stomach, or coffee if you’re wired that way to keep the monster inside of us at bay before we enter the office.
We are made so dependable which makes it often predictable to assume what we need because of the built in warning signs our body gives us. When you’re in the middle of a workout all bets are off when your body demands a need to keep it alive. Your body will need its thirst quenched, its legs to rest, its heart rate to drop, or its skin to perspire for you to keep going.
While the body tells us our physical need, it’s much harder to discern our spiritual need when the body distracts us. That’s where God’s Word turns the warning signs on for us. God’s Word in the scriptures, but also God’s Word in His Son, Jesus (read John 1:1).
There’s a story where Jesus encounters a woman in need drawing water alone from a well in the heat of the day. Social, political, and gender barriers aside, Jesus risks His own reputation to speak to this Samaritan woman (the Jewish people are known to have beef with the Samaritans). The irony of the story is that Jesus first approaches her in need Himself asking for a drink of water. While the fully human side of Jesus needed water, the fully God nature of Jesus was looking for an opportunity to give, what He mentions to her as, “living water.”
What is this living water? The Samaritan woman also asked this question. Standing by the well Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drink 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.” What a gift! To never be in need again. This is what we are all after.
But how do we get it? The Samaritan woman also wondered. Jesus tells her in one simple word, “Go.” To act. To move. An example of spiritual fitness. For her it was to go and turn from her adulterous life. For us it can be to go and seek forgiveness for a harsh exchange we dealt. It can be to go and leave your phone in the nightstand to get a clear mind. Whatever it may be, Jesus already knows. His Word wants to persuade you to leave your idols aside to trust and believe in Him.
The living water is the living Word that meets us where we are. Whatever our need is, Jesus meets us there. He meets us in joy, in pain, in shame, in fear, in doubt, in anger, in love. When we are in the presence of God, we are without hiding. Our dependency is exposed, our need is clear. It’s our need for eternal life with God found in His Word. When you open the Bible, let God read you. What can finally give our thirsty bodies rest is in the water He’s willing to pour out for you.
Questions for Reflection:
What has reading the Bible revealed about you?
What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “spiritual thirst?”
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