The children were all in bed and we had just settled down to play Settlers of Catan, our current favorite board game. There was the “pitter patter” of little feet and a sleepy looking boy came up the stairs and said “I’m thirsty”.

As his mother went into the kitchen to get him a drink, Bad Nana – me, snuck him two spoonfuls of ice cream.

So what if he thinks that if he wakes up at night he will get ice cream?

I won’t be around.

After several dirty looks from my daughter, the little guy went back to bed and I am pleased to say, he stayed until morning. Which, by the way, is 6:00 am.

We all get thirsty and we are quick to satisfy that thirst for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. We are so fortunate to have a ready supply of clean water, not everyone in the world has that blessing. Water is an essential need of our physical bodies as human beings and an important source of continued health.

Our spiritual health depends on our supply of “living water.” If we don’t renew that supply daily we will dry up spiritually with souls like a desert wasteland. Jesus taught on this spiritual thirst.

John 7:37-38 (NIV)

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice,
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

So, what is this “living water?”

John goes on to tell us in verse 39

39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

The Spirit of God is water to our souls. We need the Holy Spirit to not only quench our thirst, but to “overflow” to those around us.

I start teaching school next week. I am looking forward to meeting new students and seeing my upper level students again. A new school year brings the excitement of the “new”:
* new students
* new co-workers
* new curriculum and the resulting new lessons
* new shoes

As I encounter all the “new” I must remember that the “new” quickly wears off and the result can be the BORING same old – same old – unless I intentionally make the effort to renew.

Our children, our families, our friends, our co-workers, and our students are thirsty.

Our pastor read the above scripture yesterday and challenged us with the need to “spill over to those around us”.

To spill over, I must first be full myself. I become filled spiritually through studying God’s word, prayer, worshipping, and fellowship with other Christians. These spiritual practices fill me with living water. It is amazing how even little bits of time spent “drinking” living water can fill me to overflowing. I need to be intentional about keeping my living water level full.

We live in a dry and thirsty world.

As a young mother, a wife, a co-worker, a grandmother – whatever role or roles I find myself in – I must satisfy my spiritual thirst so that I will overflow with LIVING WATER to those around me.