For the last several days, my lips have been severely chapped. Now I normally don’t have chapped lips, so for me, it was highly unusual, and I was a little concerned. They were splitting, burning, and quite painful, and I was caking Vaseline on them, with very little help. As I started reading and putting my timeline together, I realized that I had become severely dehydrated, and I didn’t even know it!
Over the weekend, I got to spend some time with my grandson, Walter. While out and about, he saw the sign for Dollar Tree. Now you need to know that Dollar Tree is always in the radar of a 3-year-old…especially when he knows that TOYS exist in there and he can always get one because they are cheap! So, in perfectly acceptable grandparent fashion, when he expressed his seeing and wanting to go to Dollar Tree, we absolutely obliged!
When we walked down the toy aisle, there was a tiny dinosaur wrapped in a bright package. On the outside, it claimed to grow in water 600 times its original size. Now, I certainly thought that was cool and that Walter would enjoy watching the Dino grow. However, it has now been sitting in water for 5 days and it is just beginning to show signs of growth. Man, that thing must have had ALL the water sucked out of it! 10 days to rehydrate??? The package reads that it takes up to 10 days for the Dinosaur to become fully grown. We shall see.
We must pay attention to what is happening in the natural, because Jesus was a parabolic teacher: He used the physical to help us understand the spiritual. Therefore, what we experience in the natural may also be what we are experiencing in the spiritual.
The Lord used both of these to reveal to me that we can easily become spiritually dehydrated and not even know it. We can become so dehydrated that we have to be saturated in the water of the Word in order to be spiritually rehydrated.
How do you know when you are spiritually dehydrated? Your words become unwholesome. You become self-focused instead of others focused. You become easily aggravated. You become impulsive. You make unwise choices. In essence, you have become unattached from the Vine and you are drying up.
In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the Vine. You are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
In John 7:37-39, Jesus says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” The living water referred to in this passage is the Holy Spirit. From both of these Scriptures we can ascertain that, when we do not stay connected to Christ, we experience spiritual dehydration.
When we do not stay connected to Christ, we experience spiritual dehydration.
So what is the answer?
ABIDE: Make yourself at home again with Jesus.
COME and DRINK: Receive whatever you need to quench your thirsty soul.
Maybe today you recognize that you are spiritually dehydrated. I pray you will get back to Jesus. Get back into His presence and make yourself at home with Him. Invite and involve Him in your everyday life. Drink of His Word, His Truth, His Promises. Receive a fresh filling of His Spirit to the point of overflow. You’ll see your words change. You’ll become a servant to others. You’ll be selfless. You’ll be slow to anger. You’ll make godly choices.
Rivers of life-giving water, of the Word and His Spirit, will flow from your mouth and your actions, when you are fully saturated in Him.
You are loved,
Jena
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