A Drink For A Dehydrated Soul

A Drink For A Dehydrated Soul

(JOHN 7:37 & John 4:4-14)

(Christian Life, Spirituality)

(Ded/Exp)

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever been thirsty? I don’t mean the average thirst where a drink of water sounds good after a long walk or after working in the garden on a hot summer day. I mean really -- really thirsty…where your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth and you have to peel your lips off of your teeth and all you can think about is water.

Joey Mora Has…

ILLUSTRATION:

In 1996, a young marine corporal named Joey Mora was standing on a platform of an aircraft carrier patrolling the Iranian Sea. Incredibly, he fell overboard. His absence was not known for 36 hours. A search and rescue mission began, but was given up after another 24 hours. No one could survive in the sea without even a lifejacket after 60 hours. His parents were notified that he was "missing and presumed dead."

The rest of the story is one of those "truth is stranger than fiction" events. Scriptwriters would pass it up as "not believable." Four Pakistani fishermen found Joey Mora about 72 hours after he had fallen from the aircraft carrier. He was treading water in his sleep, clinging to a makeshift floatation device made from his trousers -- a skill learned in most military survival training. He was delirious when they pulled him into their fishing boat. His tongue was dry and cracked and his throat parched.

Just about two years later, as he spoke with Stone Philips of NBC Dateline, he recounted an unbelievable story of will to live and survival. Who would not give up? He said it was God who kept him struggling to survive. His discovery by the fishermen makes searching for a needle in a haystack a piece of cake. The most excruciating thing of all? Joey said that the one thought that took over his body and pounded in his brain was "Water!" [NBC Date Line: Nov. 1998]

Have you ever been thirsty like that?

I am not talking about H2O. We come to church… surrounding by the ocean of “Living Water”

Americans can buy Pink Bibles, Women Bibles, Devotional Men’s Teen Bibles and we are thirsty

We can buy Christian bumper stickers, t-shirts; go to cool and trendy Christian bookstores. Thirsty

We come to church sing the songs that quench our souls listen to the Scripture that hydrates our lives and we still are thirsty!

We are walk thru a Gatorade culture of opportunity with Sahara desert soul?

Why? Why can’s we drink from the well that never runs dry. Why are our souls shriveled and dehydrated?

Physical Thirst

Ijust have to share with you a couple of interesting facts about physical thirst. Thirst is something we experience when the pituitary gland secretes two hormones in the body. One causes a physical reaction in the kidneys and the other causes the more complicated activity of the hypothalamus to send signals to the salivary glands to reduce secretions. I discovered many years ago that just thinking about thirst could make you thirsty -- that is cause the hypothalamus to start talking to the salivary glands.

Physical thirst can be excruciating and dangerous. Dehydration will get you into serious difficulty in a hurry. If you have ever been really, truly thirsty then you will be much more able to connect with the meaning of thirst in a spiritual sense.

Spiritual Thirst

ILLUSTRATION:

The story is told of a young student who went to his spiritual teacher and asked the question, "Master, how can I truly find God?" The teacher asked the student to accompany him to the river, which ran by the village and invited him to go into the water. When they got to the middle of the stream, the teacher said, "Please immerse yourself in the water." The student did as he was instructed, whereupon the teacher put his hands on the young man’s head and held him under the water. Presently the student began to struggle.

The master held him under still. A moment passed and the student was thrashing and beating the water and air with his arms. Still, the master held him under the water. Finally, the student was released and shot up from the water, lungs aching and gasping for air. The teacher waited for a few moments and then said, "When you desire God as truly as you desired to breathe the air you just breathed -- then you shall find God."

Thirst is one of the most powerful spiritual symbols in all of scripture. As dehydration draws the whole of our physical being to a longing for water, so a spiritual void will draw our spirits into a search for deeper meaning for our lives. The Psalmist expressed it this way, "As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." (Psalm 42:1- Or... "I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land." (Psalm 143:6).