The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
Psalm 23:1-2
I don’t know about you, but I love to sit by the water to read or think, and just to be still.
It seems sometimes that still waters beckon you to draw nigh to God.
The peaceful sound of the tinkling waters fill the soul with peace.
This visual picture serves as a reminder to drink deeply of God’s living waters.
What better time than summer to sit by still waters and rest.
We know that we all thirst, and often we experience discontentment or lack of satisfaction.
Our actual need is to quench our souls with the life giving water Jesus offers us.
Only Jesus can satisfy our thirst. Only Jesus gives true contentment when we find our rest in Him.
His gift of living water is free. He will fill your soul with satisfaction and contentment as you seek Him.
When we receive the invitation to come to Jesus in prayer, and feast on His Word, our souls overflow with contentment.
So why is it that even Christians are often unhappy within?
Well, we are prone to wander, prone to seek the things of this world for happiness.
As we scamper and grasp for things that satisfy without looking to Jesus, we become emptier and emptier.
Until we go back to Jesus and ask Him to fill us with His Holy Spirit, His joy, His contentment.
Jesus gives life to the soul. He is our passion, our joy, our everything as we fully turn to Him for sustenance.
And that to me explains the problem. We might turn to Jesus briefly in a day, then turn to the world to bring relief to our restless hearts for the rest of the day.
Will food, or drink, or material goods ever satisfy the soul? What about secular books, movies, or position/titles? Even our own good works done for Jesus will not bring contentment if we don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
To find true rest, we need to take time to sit at the feet of Jesus and ask for an infilling of His Spirit. This is when our souls become filled to overflowing. The more we immerse ourselves in being with Jesus, the living waters will quench our thirst.
Do you feel haggard, empty, as if you are longing for more? Is your soul parched and dry? Are you wandering in a dry and weary land burdened to your core?
Won’t you turn to Jesus and ask Him to fill you? Will you keep Him as your first love and bow out of the rat race of life? We run to keep up with the Joneses. We scamper to make great impressions on others. But do we rush to spend time with the God of the universe?
I have a relative who is spending over a month visiting Newfoundland. Why? Because the people there are not in a hurry. The people there offer hospitality with whatever little or ample means they have. The people are generous, and gracious, and always take time for you.
I think we would be that way too, if we could just slow down, spend more time with Jesus, and say yes to reflecting His love, grace, mercy, and kindness to others.
For me, the best part of my day is sitting with Jesus, absorbing His Word, resting in His love, and writing about His Word. He quenches my soul, and I long to share that joy and passion with others. I can’t keep it locked inside. And I do long for others to know Jesus. There you have it in a nutshell.
So as you go about your day today, may the Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on you. May the Holy Spirit make those dry bones come to life.
And may you find rest for your soul.
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
John 7:38 NIV