Several weeks ago we got the wake up call every parent dreads. It was 3a.m. and from the baby’s bed—thankfully in our room that night—came gut-wrenching sounds of heaving, gagging, and vomitting. Everywhere. From that moment, and for two never-ending days after, that sweet one—our youngest—didn’t get more than a few hours reprieve.
Day two evening fell and our normally energetic, wild one was laid on the couch, droopy eyed and unable to do more than stumble and stagger around. He’d lost every ounce of water, and with it, every bit of energy and strength.
And the more that came out of him, the less he thrived. The more he slumbered, and staggered, and wimpered. The more he was still, and pale, and exhausted and spark-less.
Turns out, your body needs water to survive.
Your body has to have water to thrive.
His body, his lack of spark made it clear.
And it was back in 2021 when my more-driven-than-most Dad attempted the Boston Marathon for the second time. He was aptly trained and sufficiently fueled. But mile 21 (and humidity) hit and he started ascending that heartbreak hill and remembers little after that.
His legs grew wobbly and brain tried to shut down in survival mode. He stumbled into a med tent and woke with doctors and sports therapists working to refuel his body. “Severe dehydration,” they said. His body literally shutting down due to lack of water.
You have to have water—sufficient water—to survive.
A quick IV bag of fluids and he was right back at it. (He finished, in case you were wondering. SO proud of him!)
Our bodies physically shut down and collapse with a lack of water.
Hydration is not a nice addition to our health routine. It’s necessity.
We must have water to function and survive.
They say a person can only survive three days without it. (stat) Fuel your body, get your hydration, if you want to really live.
You know the story of the woman at the well: traveling in the dry desert heat Jesus meets the Samaritan woman and asks her for a drink of water. She questions, and Jesus responds with these powerful words:
“If you only knew…who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” (John 4:10 NLT)
The Living Water.
JESUS gives the gift of Living Water. The water only He can give, and which no other will ever compare or satisfy.
Is it really any wonder He refers to this gift—His gift—as Living Water? The God of the Universe who is infinitely intentional and wove each thing together with perfection—of course He would wire us to be desperate for water and then go on to offer us this gift of Living Water, through Him alone. He made no mistake.
We have to have Him.
He is the only one to quench our deepest thirst and desire. It is HIM we need to function and survive.
We need regular, consistent, large doses of Him to stand, to really live. And MORE of Him if we’ll climb any kind of heights.
We need Him to survive.
We must have much of Him to move from staggering and lifeless, to thriving.
You want to live well? You want to be deeply soul-refreshed and renewed? You want to rid the desert dryness and ache you feel inside? Drink of Him.
Only He will ever, truly satisfy.
We have to stop pretending drips of God on Sunday morning, or reading a faith-filled post mid-scroll, or a 5-minute morning devotional will sustain us.
*We must drink of Him—His Word—deeply, day in and day out.*
*We must drink of Him daily as though our life depends on it.*
So often we drink in the ways and busyness and hustle of the world, assuming it can satisfy, hoping it will quench our deep need. But only the true Living Water can fill our veins, satiate and bring us back to life.
It is only Him.
Our wee little Bumpkin was up all through the second night, and so was I. Crying desperately for “wa-wa!!” Up every 15 minutes, there I was forcing sips of water to restore and refuel his body from limp, and weak, and tired.
Only water could restore his body. Only water could give him what he needed. His life depended on it.
How much more must we drink of the Living Water.
Deeply. Consistently. Daily.
He is our Source of Life.
Drink deep.
Your life depends on it.
0 comments