Living Water
By Joel Raygor
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
The unit for our antelope archery tags was in a semi-arid area of Wyoming and the specific ranch we were hunting had no streams or rivers. The only water available for the rancher's cattle were two man made ponds, two windmills pumping water into stock tanks and one lone spring out in the middle of some marginal grazing land that created a small wet area. It was hot and dry, and we could feel it, but so could the cattle, deer, and the antelope.
We knew that a well placed stand near any water was our best chance to take one of these 'prairie goats' home. Our first blind was blended into the bank of one of the ponds. The second was a pop up blind inside the frame of one of the pumping windmills and the third was a pit we dug with a pick axe, that was hidden by sage brush, about 20 yards away from the tiny trickling spring.
The first day we both had lots of goats within shooting range, but either we didn't have good shots or passed, waiting for something bigger. On the second day, after several nice ones, I took a dandy P&Y buck at just 17 yards. The next morning my hunting buddy took a nice buck too. We knew they needed water.
Just like those antelope, we too have a need for water, but ours isn't just a physical one. We were created with a need for spiritual hydration too. When we stay spiritually hydrated, His life flows through us. But without Him we enter a spiritual drought. Just like the antelope needed to drink daily, we must come back to the source of life again and again.
In John 4:13–14: Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that His water provides eternal satisfaction and becomes a spring welling up to eternal life.
In John 7:37–39: Jesus invites the thirsty to come and drink, explaining that this "living water" represents the Holy Spirit for believers.
Our Heavenly Father is the true source of living water that deeply refreshes and satisfies our thirsty souls. We need to confess that we often wander to dry wells that don't satisfy. God promises that whoever drinks the water He gives will never thirst again. We pray that He washes away our worries, fill up our empty places, and pour His Holy Spirit into pur lives.
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