JOHN 7:37–38 – On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
THEME OF THE DAY. OUR SATISFACTION IN CHRIST. Let me encourage us to do a little YouTube listening today of a wonderful hymn by Keith and Kristyn Getty. It is titled LIVING WATERS. Here is the first stanza – Are you thirsty, Are you empty. Come and drink these Living Waters. Time unbroken, Peace unspoken. Rest beside these Living Waters. Christ is calling. Find refreshing. At the cross of Living Waters. Lay your life down. On Thee, all come. Rise up in these Living Waters. It is easy to connect the hymn to the theme and scripture in today’s nugget. It identifies the human condition – thirsty and empty – and the answer – Christ.
God made the human heart with a thirst only satisfied in Himself. We were never created to find contentment, fulfillment, purpose and satisfaction in anything or anyone else apart from the Lord. Sadly, the majority of people, even Christians, are walking life on a foolish path of futility seeking to find in human relationships, experiences, material things, achievements, hobbies, and a host of other things what is found in Christ alone. Basically, we are doing exactly what God’s people of old did as recorded in the major prophet book of Jeremiah – Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:12-13). So, as Christians, if we are “drinking out of the wrong source” in pursuit of inward peace and satisfaction, how do we “stop the faucet” in our lives? Here are a couple things.
First, wake up! Stop and say, “Wait a moment. What am I doing? I know better. This is foolish.” And in this spiritual wake-up call is repentance. We simply come to the only source of satisfaction and cry out, “Lord, forgive me for my foolishness. Forgive me for seeking to find in created things and people what is found only in You, my Creator.” As we do this, make sure we mean business. The sign of true repentance is not acknowledgement of the wrong path we are on, but a turning to the right one. That may mean hard things, like breaking off ungodly relationships, wasting too much time on worldly entertainment, recreation, and compromising the Lord’s Day for personal pleasure. If our repentance about seeking the wrong things and people to satisfy us is real, then we will abandon all those wrong things and relationships.
Next, seize the invitation of the Lord both in today’s scripture and the Getty hymn. Christ calls us to Himself to be satisfied in Him alone. Would it not be the height of selfishness, foolishness, and blasphemy to look heavenly to the Savior and refuse His invitation to enjoy the only source of satisfaction and contentment? Now what this means by way of seizing His invitation is we give ourselves over to His means of drinking from Him those living waters – His Word, prayer, and fellowship with His people. Like repentance, if we mean business with the Lord, then it will show by our pursuit of Him in those three spiritual disciplines and delights.
So, where are we drinking to find inward satisfaction? The stale and unfulfilling waters of the world or the always satisfying waters of the Word – living and written? If the former, let’s stop the foolishness of drinking from broken cisterns and come to Him who said, “You will never thirst again.”
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for giving me all I need in Your Son. May I learn to not only believe that but live that.”
QUOTE: “Christ alone is not only a wonderful hymn but the truth to contentment and satisfaction in this unfulfilling world.”