Thank you to everyone who continues to read these blog posts when my crazy titles might cause you to “unsubscribe!” I hope you eventually see that God does, indeed, give us lessons where we least expect them.
I fill up my large drinking cup every morning with ice and cold water. Then I proceed to take it with me virtually everywhere. I even caught myself carrying it into the grocery store a while back. It has become a virtual appendage in my daily life.
I fill it up again before bedtime just in case I need 40 ounces of water through the night. Most mornings, I’ve barely touched it.
There are times when I consciously take a lot of sips from the cup, like during my aqua exercise class three times a week. Obviously, I gulp down big swallows after mowing the yard or weeding on a hot day.
But recently, I’ve noticed that, despite the constant companionship of my cup, I’m not necessarily drinking from it on a consistent basis. I’m sure there are days when I fall far short of taking in the required amount to keep me healthy and hydrated.
Despite the charade of being that healthy, hydrated person, I was often no better than those who left their drinking cups sitting on the kitchen counter throughout the day.
Here are a couple of fun facts that speak to the essential nature of staying hydrated:
- Even mild dehydration (just 1–2% loss of body water) can affect your mood, memory, and concentration—so drinking water can literally help you think more clearly and feel happier!
- Drinking water can actually boost your metabolism. Studies show that drinking about 17 ounces (500 ml) of water can increase your metabolic rate by up to 30% for over an hour—so staying hydrated can help your body burn energy more efficiently!
- Recommended amounts run as high as 91 ounces a day for women and 125 ounces a day for men. That’s multiple 8-ounce glasses throughout the day.
I’m all in—renewed commitment starting now! Who doesn’t want to think more clearly, be happier, and maintain a healthy weight more effectively?
Soon after this “water revelation,” I wondered what I could also learn about my daily walk with Jesus. That’s where things became a bit uncomfortable – and thirsty, if you will.
I had to ask myself these questions:
- Do I carry my Christian faith around with me day in and day out, so it looks like I have a solid relationship with God?
- Do I only “drink from the cup” in certain situations like Sunday services or Bible studies?
- Do I take big gulps of God when my faith has been in the heat for a while?
If I answer “yes” to any of those, even occasionally, I’m not spiritually as healthy as I could be, and I’m not benefiting from true, daily, step-by-step hydration. Hydration which only comes from Living Water.
It’s the life-giving, soul-refreshing, and eternal sustenance that comes from God, through Jesus Christ and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
In the clearest and most direct teaching on “living water” Jesus tells the woman at the well:
“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10, ESV)
He goes on to say:
“Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (v. 14)
So, while I recommit to drinking more earthly water, what I most desire is more of the Living Water – more of Jesus in my daily life.
May God grant us that desire of our hearts.
Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters.
Isaiah 55:1a