Water and the Word

As each year ticks by, I am learning that I can’t eat the way I used to. Apparently, a diet that consists largely of carbs and dessert is not only not the healthiest but tends to make for tight clothes. I guess there are some that intentionally buy clothes that are tight, but that has never been me. I prefer some wiggle room and I am noticing how easy it is to run out of that dearly loved space when I think I can keep eating the way I did in my twenties and thirties. I thought my metabolism and I were great friends and had developed a true understanding of trust. O, the sting of betrayal! 

Of course, it’s not just about eating right and exercising. It’s also about drinking enough water. Eight glasses a day, to be exact. Why is water so important? We will die without it! Our body is 60% water. And because so much of our body is water, it is a critical need in making sure that our bodily functions keep working properly. We need water for our body to digest and absorb food as well as transport nutrients. Water keeps the cells of our muscles happy and energized. Water keeps our kidneys in tiptop shape, removing toxins and extra fluid from our bodies. The more you learn about the benefits of drinking water, the more you will become convinced that you need to be drinking enough each day. 

And it sounds so simple, doesn’t it? How hard can it be to drink 64 ounces over the course of 14-16 waking hours? That’s just a little over a half of a cup every hour. And then there is the fantastic reality that water is free. The only sacrifice one has to make in order to drink the necessary amount of water is time: a few seconds every hour, really.  It sounds so simple and so easy but there are so many days that I just don’t drink those 8 cups of water. I get busy. I get distracted. I put it off and say I’ll drink more with my meal…and it never happens. 

I couldn’t help but think of the parallels between drinking water and feasting on the Word of God. We know how important the Word of God is. We know that it is the “bread of life” and the only thing that will satisfy our souls. We know that we need to renew our minds with God’s truth if we want to have transformed lives that “shine like stars” and are a “fragrance of life” wherever we go. We know that it is only with a steady diet of the Word of God that our thoughts, words and actions come under the authority of Scripture and, through the Holy Spirit, bear fruit for His glory. 

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? How hard can it be to spend some time over the course of 14-16 hours reading, studying and meditating on the Word of God? And then there is the fantastic reality that the Word of God is freely accessible. The only sacrifice one has to make in order to read and study is time….time that we truly have, if we are honest. It sounds so simple and easy but there are so many days where we just don’t open the Bible and learn from our King. We get busy. We get distracted. We put it off and say we’ll do it later in the day….but later never comes. 

Our bodies need water in order to live and function properly, and our souls need the Word of God in order to live and function for His glory and our good. Apart from Him we can do nothing and apart from His Word we do not know Him, who loved us and gave Himself up for us. Oh, that our hearts would drink deeply from His truth as we live out our days clinging to Jesus, the Living Water! 

“On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”  John 7:37-38