The Unbaptized Arm

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever heard the strange legend about a group of 15th Century soldiers and their unusual baptism? They served a man named Ivan the Great who was the Grand Prince of Moscow and All Russia. Ivan was pledged to marry a Greek princess, but her father insisted that he and his 500 soldiers become members of the Orthodox Church first. This involved a full immersion baptism. However, the Orthodox Church forbade professional soldiers from being baptized due to their violent way of life, which is not in line with the teachings of Christ. But the clever fellows found a work-around. As they entered the waters, they held up their right arms above the surface. This prevented their “fighting arms” from being baptized. They were willing to give their bodies and souls to God but reserved their sword arms for the state. This story serves as a classic example of when your “yes” really means “no.”

In our Scripture today, Paul had been accused of being unreliable and untrustworthy by the church in Corinth because he had said he could come to them on a certain day and then was unable to make the trip. He sent a letter in his place and was met with their questioning of his motives and his word. You can hear the hurt and offense that this caused Paul in verse 17: “So I wasn’t unreliable when I planned to do this, was I?” Having his integrity questioned was painful.

2 Corinthians 1 (Common English Bible)

17 So I wasn’t unreliable when I planned to do this, was I? Or do I make decisions with a substandard human process so that I say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 But as God is faithful, our message to you isn’t both yes and no. 19 God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is the one who was preached among you by us—through me, Silvanus, and Timothy—he wasn’t yes and no. In him it is always yes. 20 All of God’s promises have their yes in him. That is why we say Amen through him to the glory of God.

Paul leans on their understanding of the reliability of God to make his point. As God is faithful, Paul was faithful to his churches, even when they needed to be reprimanded. He preached a Savior who was completely reliable and worthy of their trust. Jesus was not a “yes and no” man, and Paul was not untouched by that fact. His yes was always a yes.

Yet out of this unpleasantness came one of Scripture’s most beautiful verses: “All of God’s promises have their yes in him” (verse 20). Yes, Lord! What a wonderful statement of the reliability of Christ. Every good thing that God gave to humanity came through him.

Think for a moment about the commitments and promises you have made. Consider what you are doing with your time, your talents, and your treasure. Are you one-hundred percent in or are you holding something back? Does your yes mean maybe? Are you willing to serve God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength, or are you keeping something in reserve for yourself?

God’s yeses are always yes, for all of eternity. May we respond like Paul and give everything we have to the building of God’s kingdom, holding nothing back.

Just like Jesus.

Blessing of the Fleet

Good Things In, Good Things Out

Posted on by Betsy

There is a holistic doctor in my community that lives by the mantra “Let thy food be thy medicine.” She preaches and teaches the importance of putting the right and good things into the body to ensure that it functions well on the outside. Too much fat in the diet results in high cholesterol and overstressed joints. Too little protein will end in weak muscles. Alcohol and tobacco use diminish the good health of the patient, while fruits, vegetables and exercise bring positive outcomes. If we want to stay physically healthy on the outside we must carefully consider what is going in our bodies. 

It is a premise that works for our souls as well. What we put into our hearts and minds will affect what comes out in our attitudes, beliefs, and speech. Early computer programmers used to say, “garbage in equals garbage out.” If we fill our days with mindless Netflix binging, 24 hour inflammatory “news” programs, and too much secular thinking, we will become flat and useless for building God’s kingdom. But, as Paul advised, if we fill ourselves with constant prayer and guard our hearts with a focus on gratitude for all of God’s blessings, we will be better able to act wisely toward outsiders and make the most of the opportunities God gives us to share the gospel in meaningful and appropriate ways. He counseled that we must spend time in the prayer closet before we move out into the public street. One is dependent on the other. An inner life of prayer breeds an outer life of witness.

Colossians 4:2-6

2 Keep on praying and guard your prayers with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray for us also. Pray that God would open a door for the word so we can preach the secret plan of Christ—which is why I’m in chains. 4 Pray that I might be able to make it as clear as I ought to when I preach. 5 Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Your speech should always be gracious and sprinkled with insight so that you may know how to respond to every person.

Paul wrote these words to his church in Colossae while he was in prison in Rome. He had been arrested in Judea after being falsely charged with defiling the Temple and starting riots. As a Roman citizen, he used his legal right and requested to appear before Caesar rather than face an unfair trial in Judea. He spent two years in prison awaiting that appearance.

We are reminded to pray that God would “open a door for the word,” a theme that is repeated in Acts 14:24 and 1 Corinthians 16:9. Witnessing is a three-fold activity. First, we pray. Second, we wait for answers and watch for the door to be opened. Last, we offer prayers of thanksgiving for God’s plan and move forward. 

This approach will enable us to cultivate the God’s gift of pleasant and wise conversation. Our speech will be more gracious and insightful as all of the things we have internalized will come out in appropriate responses.

What are you filling yourself with? Are you spending time in prayer in order to be ready? God will open the doors when you are.

Goodness on a Plate by Becca Ziegler

On Impulse

Posted on by Betsy

I am sure I’m not alone in regretting making a promise I wish I had never made. From the very beginning I knew what was being asked of me was wrong, but I let someone’s panic sway me into saying yes. A woman in my church was deeply concerned that her frail best friend had a significant eating disorder and begged me, as their pastor, to intervene and address it. I suggested that she, as the friend, should be the one to do this but she nagged and persisted, saying that it was my job as well. This was absolutely wrong, by the way, but I was young and impulsive and truly thought I could help, so I promised to address it when there was an appropriate opening. 

I chose to write a loving note of concern to the woman after she came into church one Sunday with a hairline fracture of her pelvis due to over-exercise and running. I bet you can finish the story. The woman was so offended by my “kind intervention” that she never returned to church again. I never should have promised the friend that I would help, and I regret that rash decision to this day.

I love how the book of Proverbs addresses the foibles and potholes of life in wise, concise sentences. Today’s passage is no exception. As all proverbs do, it hits home the practical lesson of not making rash vows before careful consideration. People do things and make plans, but God guides our steps according to God’s will and wisdom, which should be a humbling reminder to consult God first before making any bold moves. We aren’t in control, so why do we act like we are? Yet we often respond to things out of our emotions rather than our thoughtful reflections, and that doesn’t bode well for us. As it says in Ecclesiastes 5:4-5, “When you make a promise to God, fulfill it without delay because God has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you promise. 5 Better not to make a promise than to make a promise without fulfilling it.” 

Proverbs 20 (Common English Bible)

A person’s steps are from the Lord;
    how then can people understand their path?
25 It is a snare to say rashly, “It is holy,”
    and only reflect after making the promise.

This passage teaches us three things. First, don’t be quick to make a vow or promise. Second, be serious about the ones that you make. And third, regard any broken vow or promise as something to be confessed and repented. We are reminded to be wise and consider God’s plans before we jump into something we can’t or shouldn’t fulfill. 

Have you broken a vow? Is there an unfulfilled promise that needs your attention? Are you contemplating something that requires more reflection before you say something? Stop. Slow down. Listen to God’s wise counsel. God will never let you down.

Stop and Smell the Lily

Word Choice

Posted on by Betsy

Word choice is important. I remember seeing those words written in red ink on my essays in school and that lesson is still with me to this day. Selecting proper and effective words to communicate a thought can make a huge difference. For example, has someone ever said to you after an argument, “I’m sorry you were hurt.” Think about what that means. It certainly doesn’t mean “I’m sorry I hurt you.” The arguer is shirking their responsibility for your pain.

When we receive the offering on Sunday mornings, we are careful to invite the congregation to worship with the giving of “God’s tithe” and our offerings. Right away we set up a Biblical expectation of what might go into the plate. Returning a portion of God’s provision every Sunday is not an act of generosity, it is an act of obedience that says two things. First, we understand the directive in Deuteronomy 14:22 to set aside a tithe, defined as one-tenth, of the crops each harvest and return it to God. Second, it acknowledges that apart from God, we have nothing. God gave us our resources in the first place, so a tithe is just returning back to God what belongs to God.

We can clearly see in the psalmist’s word choices in our Scripture today that he fully understood that God was the giver of all things. This song of gratitude reinforces that all good things come from God. The psalmist expresses thanks for the fact that God actively listens every time he calls on God’s name and is grateful that God is a breaker of the chains that had once bound him.

Psalm 116 ( Common English Bible)

What can I give back to the Lord
    for all the good things he has done for me?
13 I’ll lift up the cup of salvation.
    I’ll call on the Lord’s name.
14 I’ll keep the promises I made to the Lord
    in the presence of all God’s people.
15 The death of the Lord’s faithful
    is a costly loss in his eyes.

16 Oh yes, Lord, I am definitely your servant!
    I am your servant and the son of your female servant—
    you’ve freed me from my chains.
17 So I’ll offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to you,
    and I’ll call on the Lord’s name.
18 I’ll keep the promises I made to the Lord
    in the presence of all God’s people,
19     in the courtyards of the Lord’s house,
        which is in the center of Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

As a servant of the Lord, the psalmist offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving as he received the cup of salvation.  This is a clue about the fact that this song was used at Passover, when Jews celebrated their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Indeed, Psalms 113-118 are referred to as the “Egyptian Hallel Psalms” and are sung before and after the Seder meal.

We remember that Jesus was observing the Seder at the Last Supper on the night that he was betrayed and arrested. Thus was can be assured that Jesus and his disciples sang these prophetic and triumphant verses as Jesus raised the cup of salvation in that ritual moment. Then he became the cup of salvation of the New Covenant for the world with his death on cross and his resurrection three days later.  

Are you bound in chains today? Do you need deliverance? This psalm is a beautiful reminder that the cup of salvation is offered to everyone, every day. When we call out to God, we are never ignored. We can be thankful that everything we have is a gift from God, including our salvation. Thanks be to God!

Cup of Salvation

Testing, Testing

Posted on by Betsy

For 36 years my husband flew commercial airplanes for a living. Prior to that he flew jets in the Navy. The pace of that life had a certain rhythm to it. We never knew his schedule until the 15th of the month prior. That was tricky to say the least! But another part of the schedule involved recurrent training. Every nine months he had to return to Delta’s training center in Atlanta for full flight simulator training and ground school. I always knew it was coming when the big black aircraft manuals come out for study sessions. In addition, every quarter pilots have to complete an online training module and are subject to in-person line checks with trained observers. Very few industries regularly test their employees to this extent. Does it give you comfort to know that your pilot has passed so many tests?

In our passage today, James talks about the positive aspects of being tested. James was the half-brother of Jesus, who led the church in Jerusalem. While not a believer in Jesus’ lifetime, (is that a sibling thing?) James converted after a post resurrection appearance recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:7. His letter was written to the early Jewish Christians who were scattered beyond the borders of Isreal. It focuses on maintaining a living faith during trials and temptations. 

James 1 (Common English Bible)

2 My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. 3 After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing.5 But anyone who needs wisdom should ask God, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score. Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask.6 Whoever asks shouldn’t hesitate. They should ask in faith, without doubting. Whoever doubts is like the surf of the sea, tossed and turned by the wind. 7 People like that should never imagine that they will receive anything from the Lord. 8 They are double-minded, unstable in all their ways.

9 Brothers and sisters who are poor should find satisfaction in their high status. 10 Those who are wealthy should find satisfaction in their low status, because they will die off like wildflowers. 11 The sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up the grass so that its flowers fall and its beauty is lost. Just like that, in the midst of their daily lives, the wealthy will waste away. 12 Those who stand firm during testing are blessed. They are tried and true. They will receive the life God has promised to those who love him as their reward.

We notice that James started by affirming that tests happen to all of us and moves quickly into language about finding the joy in those tests. This is an amazing concept for anyone who has ever endured a test of any kind, yet it accurately pinpoints the reality of the Christian walk. Endurance leads to our maturity of faith. Faith is tested by trials, not produced by them. In that way, trials reveal the actual depth of our faith. James encouraged us to seek wisdom when tested, reminding us that God is happy to give wisdom to those wise enough to ask. We don’t seek knowledge in these moments, as knowledge is understood to be simply raw information and dry facts. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge in appropriate and life-giving ways.

James’ words about doubt may sound harsh, especially to those who appreciate the kind of questioning that Thomas went through to deepen his own faith. But in James’ case, it is a matter of intention. The unbelief of doubters meant that they asked God for things with no foundation, trust, or belief, as though God was a Magic 8 Ball. Such double-mindedness quickly passes away like the flower in the fields. 

Are you being tested right now? Find joy in knowing that God is producing the patience and wisdom of mature faith in you. Stand firm!

Tried and Tested

Handmade Gods

Posted on by Betsy

I am a coffee mug snob. I believe that coffee mugs should be a certain height and shape. They need to be tall and slender, but large enough to hold at least 12 oz. of dark roast. The handle should be comfortable, and the mug should remind you of someone or someplace wonderful. My favorite coffee mug was a perfectly shaped thing of beauty that my mother-in-law brought back from England for me many years ago. It was from Herrods and it showed the famous facade of the store with a stylish car pulled up to the front. Inside the lip of the mug was a replica British license plate with the Harrod’s name. Sadly, a house guest inadvertently broke it while helpfully doing the dishes. A long search on the Harrods website and eBay did not turn up anything like it, as it was decades old and no longer made.

I thought about this mug today as I read verse 6b in today’s passage: “I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there are no other gods.” This was a profound statement by God at a time when Isreal had fallen into worshipping handmade idols of the surrounding nations. The nation had been carried into exile in Babylon, and the people had strayed far from God.

This passage reminds us that God is self-existing and therefore cannot be made and cannot be broken. Jesus later came along and proclaimed himself to be the first and last, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. (See Revelation 1:17 and 22:13.) 

Isaiah 44 (Common English Bible)

The Lord, Israel’s king and redeemer,
    the Lord of heavenly forces, says:
I am the first, and I am the last,
    and besides me there are no gods.
7 Who is like me?
    Let them speak up, explain it, and lay it out for me.
Who announced long ago what is to be?
    Let them tell us what is to come.
8 Don’t tremble; have no fear!
    Didn’t I proclaim it?
    Didn’t I inform you long ago?
You are my witnesses!
    Is there a God besides me?
    There is no other rock; I know of none.

The handcrafted gods that had enraptured the people were as useless as pieces of a broken coffee mug. God challenged these gods to speak up and explain themselves and then schools the idol worshippers over which “god” can actually forecast what is to come. Only the Lord of heavenly forces, Israel’s king and redeemer, has that kind of power.

But lest we be too critical about the Israelites, the truth is that we’re pretty good at making our own handmade idols, aren’t we? Celebrity culture, greed, popularity, obsession with our phones, gossip, social media that hurls hate speech across the internet, fancy cars, high mortgages … we are guilty of bowing down to many things as well. Isaiah’s writing reminds us that there are no other gods and that redemption can only come from the one true God. God is our one of a kind, end-all-be-all Deity who encompasses all time and existence. We are witnesses to that.

Verse 8 reassures us that God is in control and has plans for us. God is our one true Rock, and no idols we make can compare to the greatness of our God.

Are you spending too much time kneeling before a false idol? Just smash that thing and move on.

The Only Rock by Kathy Schumacher

Blessed and Broken

Posted on by Betsy

I believe that the love language of the United Methodist Church is the potluck supper. I know the cross and flame is our symbol, but I think it should be a casserole dish. Hear me out, now! When we have a potluck supper, people who haven’t been to church in ages suddenly appear. The lines are long and filled with chatty people catching up with one another. Plates are heaped high and hearts and bellies are filled. It is always guaranteed to be a love feast. As long as you’re not the last in line.

In our passage today, a multitude that exceeded 5,000 people sat and ate the miraculous meal of fish and bread. Certainly Jesus could have done this miracle by himself, but he used his disciples instead. There is a great lesson in that for us. It required them to demonstrate their faith in Jesus’ ability to take their meager resources and multiply them. Indeed, Jesus provided a meal out of resources they couldn’t even see because of their faith that he would.

John 14 (Common English Bible)

13 When Jesus heard about John, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. When the crowds learned this, they followed him on foot from the cities. 14 When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion for them and healed those who were sick. 15 That evening his disciples came and said to him, “This is an isolated place and it’s getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

16 But Jesus said to them, “There’s no need to send them away. You give them something to eat.”

17 They replied, “We have nothing here except five loaves of bread and two fish.”

18 He said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them and broke the loaves apart and gave them to his disciples. Then the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 Everyone ate until they were full, and they filled twelve baskets with the leftovers. 21 About five thousand men plus women and children had eaten.

This miracle was an act that demonstrated Jesus’ authority over nature, just as walking on water and turning water into wine had done. It also was an act that demonstrated Jesus’ authority over human nature. He challenged his disciples to break open their reluctance, their hesitation, and their own desire to be fed so that the bread could be blessed and broken for others. And don’t forget the twelve baskets that were left over, demonstrating just how far our Lord would go to feed people.

People everywhere are hungry, but the world answers with empty words. Governments and politicians try to convince them that they really aren’t that hungry. The Haves hoard what they have while the Have-Nots starve. The truth is, if everyone shared God’s provision, no one would ever be hungry.

People are hungry for meaning, but popular culture responds with vapid and superficial sugar that distracts momentarily but leaves them starving. People are hungry for the truth, but the church answers with another new, shiny program and fog machine worship. We must be sure we are providing spiritual sustenance to a starving world in everything we do.   

We have resources we can’t even see. God can take them and bless and break them, if we are just willing to hand ourselves over and ask God to feed others with what we have. Part of that challenge is to only take what we really need for ourselves, ensuring that the last fellow in the potluck line has as full a plate as the first.

Is God calling you to trust what you have and give some away? Jesus can do miracles with that.

Kitty Hawk United Methodist Church

True Bread

Posted on by Betsy

How many times during the day do you think about food? I never realized how much food occupies my mind until I had a day when I couldn’t have anything but clear liquids. A routine medical procedure that required a day of a liquid diet was an eye-opener. I discovered that during my morning run, all I think about in the last mile is what I will make for lunch. In the afternoon, my mind is pre-occupied with dinner plans. Even a late afternoon boat ride was consumed with what kind of drink/snack I would usually be enjoying instead of the unsatisfying can of diet Sprite that I was allowed. Food, glorious food! I had to avoid Facebook, as my feed is filled with recipe posts and pictures of things I couldn’t eat. When the procedure was finally over, my first thought wasn’t about the results. All I could think about was coffee and a breakfast biscuit. And more coffee.

In our reading today, the people had followed Jesus across the lake not because they wanted to see more miracles, but simply because they were hungry. That truly speaks to the power that food has over us. They sought food that perished but Jesus corrected them and suggested they seek food that endures for eternal life. People are always more attracted to material things than spiritual things. 

John 6 (Common English Bible)

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26 Jesus replied, “I assure you that you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate all the food you wanted. 27 Don’t work for the food that doesn’t last but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Human One will give you. God the Father has confirmed him as his agent to give life.”

Jesus understood our obsession with food when he proclaimed that he is the true bread of heaven. What better way to demonstrate his supreme importance in our lives than to tap into our most basic need for sustenance! The body can’t live without bread. The soul can’t live without the bread of heaven. And thus when they ask what God required to obtain this bread, he tells them that they must believe in him, whom God has sent.

28 They asked, “What must we do in order to accomplish what God requires?”

29 Jesus replied, “This is what God requires, that you believe in him whom God sent.”

When Jesus came, people struggled to understand what he was offering. For him to plainly say, “I am the bread of life” was as simple, and yet as profound, as it could be.

The people, hungry for answers, reminded Jesus that Moses gave their ancestors manna in the wilderness. It was like throwing down a gauntlet. Can Jesus top what Moses did?

30 They asked, “What miraculous sign will you do, that we can see and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

32 Jesus told them, “I assure you, it wasn’t Moses who gave the bread from heaven to you, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

But they were wrong in their thinking. It wasn’t Moses, it was God who provided the bread. And their ancestors’ bread was only lasted a day. The true bread of heaven is not just manna for one day, it is manna for eternity. 

How many times have you thought about food today? How many times have you thought about Jesus today? Jesus provides the bread that will never end; a bread that comes down from heaven above. 

May we think about God today as many times as we think about food.

34 They said, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!”

The Heavens Above by Becca Ziegler

Re-Sourcing the Source

Posted on by Betsy

Crowdsourcing is a way of outsourcing a task or obtaining information for a project by using the input of a large group of people, typically via the internet. Social media, smartphone apps, and electronic surveys are some of the means by which interested parties can source work or gather information. People are invited to collectively contribute ideas, time, expertise, or funds to a common goal. For example, traffic tracking apps such as Waze use driver/rider generated reports to communicate issues on your journey. We use these types of crowd sourcing applications to “feed the need” of others.

A few years ago, Lays Potato Chips maximized the concept of crowdsourcing in its campaign “Do Us a Flavor,” where they asked people to submit ideas for potato chip flavors. The public then voted on the flavors they would like to try. The top four submissions became actual products. So new flavors such as Crispy Taco, Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle, and Beer Cheese have been crowdsourced from inception to having the final selection available at your local Publix. Who came up with the idea of Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle potato chips? I want some!

At the heart of crowdsourcing is the notion of people coming together to help each other. 

Crowdsourcing existed in the early church, but of course they didn’t call it that. Martin Luther was an original crowd-sourcer. His frustrations with the institutional Church led him to write his “Ninety-Five Theses: A Disputation on the Power of Indulgences” and nail them on the door of the church in Wittenberg, located in the heart of the city on the public square. People read it, printed it, translated it, and shared its ideas with others throughout Germany and the rest of Europe, and thus the Reformation began.

But Jesus, of course was the original crowd Source. He spent a good deal of his ministry among the crowds, finding ways to feed their needs. In this wonderful miracle known as the “Feeding of the Four Thousand,” we see him at his crowdsourcing best.

Matthew 15 (Common English Bible)

32 Now Jesus called his disciples and said, “I feel sorry for the crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry for fear they won’t have enough strength to travel.”

33 His disciples replied, “Where are we going to get enough food in this wilderness to satisfy such a big crowd?”

34 Jesus said, “How much bread do you have?”

They responded, “Seven loaves and a few fish.”

35 He told the crowd to sit on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish. After he gave thanks, he broke them into pieces and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 Everyone ate until they were full. The disciples collected seven baskets full of leftovers. 38 Four thousand men ate, plus women and children. 39 After dismissing the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

Jesus sourced the miracle, and the crowd sourced the resource. What resource are you holding onto that would be better shared with the crowd? Where can you offer your expertise, your ideas, or your opinions in a way that constructively benefits others? Where is God calling you to take the Good News out into the public square and re-form the people?

Whenever you have served the least of these with whatever you have, you have served the Lord. And don’t forget to pick up the leftovers!

Sharing is Caring

Drink Up

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever been thirsty? Like, really, really thirsty, where your mouth is sticking together for lack of hydration? If you’ve had surgery, you might remember that the first sensation upon coming out of anesthesia is thirst. Nurses are talking to you and giving you all kinds of instructions, and all you can think is “Where is my Coke, Woman??”

Our souls thirst in the same way. God created us with a “lack-mechanism” where we experience a pervasive feeling of lacking for something. C.S. Lewis said that God created us with a hole in our hearts that only God can fill. God wants us to feel a need for him. This lack-mechanism prompts us to go out and find what we need to quench our soul-thirst.

Too often we try to quench it with worldly soda. The first bottle of empty sugar and fizz that we find is consumed in great quantities. Sometimes soda comes in the form of alcohol or drugs. Sometimes it comes dressed in heels or the well-cut suit of someone we aren’t married to. Maybe it comes in the form of “retail therapy.” Often it comes through your screen as you greedily binge a full weekend away in a sugar coma of Netflix distraction. But it’s like your grandmother told you … soda is not good for you. It is too easy to get addicted to sugary fizz, and before you know it, months or years have passed since you had a good drink of real living water.

John 4 (Common English Bible)

7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food.

9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.)

10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.”

11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!”

Notice that Jesus stopped his journey in a Samaritan village, a place where Jews such as himself were not welcome. He was in the middle of going somewhere else when this beautiful exchange happened. It was noon. The village ladies all drew their water together in the early morning so that they could visit and gossip in the cool hours. This lady came alone at noon, indicating that she lived a life of too much soda. Jesus asked her to draw water for him with her bucket, which was unclean for a Jew. He broke a lot of rules to interact with her that day. 

The water that Jesus offered this woman, and offers us as well, is the gushing artesian spring of endless life. It is the forgiveness, hope, reconciliation, and peace that comes from finally finding that thing that satisfies our lack-mechanism, and we are satiated for once and for all.

The water Jesus offers is effervescent. It bubbles. It jumps from the glass and tickles your nose. It is so filled with joy that you can’t stop drinking it until you are full enough to never want soda again.

So drink. Drink again and again. Drink in Jesus until your thirst is quenched. His well is deep, so fill up your bucket and live.

Well of Life by Kathy Schumacher