I love water. After my morning cup of coffee, water is my drink of choice all day long and leading up to bed. Unless, of course, it’s a night when my wife and I decide to have a glass of wine. Water is awesome. It’s not only thirst-quenching, it’s incredibly good for us.

Water helps us maintain healthy organs and muscles as well as aiding in both the digestive process and the regulation of body temperature. It also flushes us out, helping us remove harmful toxins from our bodies and fight off viruses like the flu and the common cold.

Bottom line: We were made to need water.

This is an indisputable fact when it comes to our bodies and we would be hard pressed to find a serious person who would claim otherwise. But, it is also true for our souls. Spiritually, we were made to need the invigorating streams of living water that only God can provide. The Psalmist knew this truth when he said in Psalm 42:1, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.”

Jesus Christ knew it, too. He said as much when He told the Samarian woman at the well, in John 4:13-14, “’Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”

We are all sinners. A quick read of Paul’s letters to the Romans makes that abundantly clear. And, anyone who takes, even a cursory but, honest look at themselves knows they are no exception. Therefore, we all need to flush out the sinful toxins from our souls. These toxins include things like unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, selfishness and rebellion. We need to be cleansed from the inside out. Physically, we can chug more water. Spiritually, we must go to Jesus. We must repent of our sins, bathe our lives in prayer, and devour the Holy Word of God.

Who’s thirsty?

• Verses are quoted from the English Standard Version of the Holy Bible