THE WELL OR THE BUCKET

THE WELL OR THE BUCKET

We are a society always looking. Looking for what? We may not even know. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, voices bombard us with messages about what we should want and where we should search for it. I haven’t watched television in—well, I don’t remember the last time I watched television. Still, I have not escaped the bombardment: billboards, social media, and streaming ads tucked inside articles. We may have no idea what it is, yet we carry a feeling of dissatisfaction with where we are or who we are. We may not remember ever feeling truly satisfied. There is a thirst within us—a longing for something deeper, stronger, and more sustaining than even the water I faithfully consume.

This much is true: water is essential to life, and severe dehydration can become dangerous. So, it is imperative that we discover the root of our deeper thirst. Why are we so thirsty when so much water appears to be available?

Thirst is a powerful longing—powerful enough to displace every other desire, moving things from their usual, proper, or original place. Said another way, lesser longings get pushed out by the one that will not be ignored. Thirst can also be a trickster; it may disguise itself as a craving for something else. We try to feed it, entertain it, or stay busy enough to silence it. These may camouflage the thirst, but they cannot quench it. Just as the human body needs water to function well, our inward lives need what is true and life-giving if we are to live authentically, spiritually, and emotionally whole.

Here is the warning: a dry creek bed will soak up a bucket of salty or chemically contaminated water as readily as it will a bucket collected from a summer downpour. ALL are temporary answers to a deeper problem. The dry bed longs for the living source—the water connected to what created and sustained it from the beginning.

There are times, no doubt, when buckets of water look like the answer. Remember: it is still a bucket of water… a quick fix. Salty water creates more thirst. Contaminated water causes serious damage. Rainwater, refreshing as it may be, does not last. Do the hard work. Scratch beneath the surface. Search for what quenches your real thirst. The voices telling you and me what we should seek are not always looking out for our best interests—but the thirst within us may be pointing toward the life we were created to live.

Here is a hint or two: what you are searching for may not be what others encourage you to seek or what you were trained to do, or for what you were schooled to believe you were meant. Once found, the water that quenches your inward thirst will keep you hydrated, healthy, and functioning as your truest self. The thirst will return—that is life, and that is change. When it returns, you will no longer have to chase every bucket. You will know the well and the Source that truly quenches your thirst.

John 4:14

CONSIDER THIS THOUGHT—While we search for what will quench our thirst, the One who can quench it is already searching for us. 

LOOKING FOR WHAT?