Wednesday July 3, 2024

Today is Wednesday, July 3 and we are studying what the Bible says about still waters.

Holy and loving God, in the midst of a busy day, I pause to find a place of quiet rest. I calm my scattered thoughts and slow my breath. I seek the green pastures and still waters you promise. Show me what it means to have a Sabbath heart and discover the inner peace you provide. Amen.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you,  my faithful love promised to David. Isaiah 55:1-3

In the twenty-third Psalm, my Lord and Shepherd promises to lead me beside still waters. Water is a good thing. It is important for healthy bodies to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. Not drinking enough H2O can affect a person’s mood, focus, memory, performance and motor coordination. The effects of mild dehydration include fatigue, low energy and headaches. It is the same in the spiritual life. A lack of spiritual water means I am not functioning well, I am not at my best, it is not “well with my soul.” My spiritual life can become dehydrated, dry, droopy and near death. I need water. Isaiah 55 is an invitation to the spiritually thirsty.

Isaiah’s prophecy is one of salvation. Those who come to the waters find new life. When a person has spiritual thirst, he or she often tries to satisfy the inner emptiness with the things of this world. What they really thirst for deep in the soul is God. Spiritually many people are dying of thirst and don’t even know it. Spiritual emptiness is masked and momentarily satisfied by the many pleasant things our culture readily provides. Ours is a society of discontentment, we never have enough of things and the world promises a satisfaction that never arrives. God invites us to “come to the waters” and be filled.

I cannot revive my own soul, only God can. When I turn to him, he will do so, through his Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ. This profound spiritual blessing is available to me. Isaiah spells out my invitation to come to Jesus and be filled. I am invited to come to the water – the Living Water. I come, buy and eat without money. There is no cost, because the purchase price has already been paid. Jesus paid the price for me on the cross. All I need to do is come to him. Jesus, the Living Water, invites me to come. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, leads me to drink from the still waters of life.

Ask: How is it with my soul? Is my soul dry, thirsty, and empty? Or is my soul satisfied, content and refreshed?

Pause and Pray

Lord God, thank you for the invitation to come to the waters of life. You offer exactly what I require for my thirsty soul. Forgive me for continuing to spin my wheels, spending time and money on things which offer no satisfaction, meanwhile neglecting the life-giving gift you offer. I long for you, I thirst for you, I seek your living water. Come and pour life over the dry places of my heart, refresh the empty ground of my mind and revive my dehydrated spirit. Shower me with your Sabbath rains and renew me in your great love. Amen.

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