“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”- Jeremiah 2:13
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”- John 4:10
As Pastor Kyle Idleman concludes at the end of Chapter 13 of Gods at War, the god of me takes many forms, none of which satisfy. He tells a story of the summer his family house-sat for friends who were out of town. Pastor Idleman’s family was excited because the home had an above-ground pool in the backyard. One morning they discovered the water level was a bit low, so Kyle dove in to investigate. He found a pencil-sized hole and purchased an underwater patch. When he tried to apply the patch, the hole grew to the size of a basketball, emptying thousands of gallons of water into the backyard.
Whenever we put our hope in something other than Jesus, eventually we realize that our hope doesn’t hold water. The author asks:
“So what are you thirsty for? Are you stressed out and thirsty for purpose? . . . Are you thirsty for acceptance? For validation? For significance? Are you thirsty for something more? The god of me relentlessly calls us to chase after all these things.”
But if we drink from Jesus, we’ll never be thirsty again.
Today’s question: In the wake of your ministry downsizing or position loss, how would you answer Pastor Idleman’s question about thirst? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Longing and Looking”. The Annotated Bibliography of Gods at War will post Monday.
