Never Thirst Again!

Scripture:

Gen. 2:10 ¶ A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches.
Gen. 2:11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
Gen. 2:12 and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.
Gen. 2:13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush.
Gen. 2:14 The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Observation:

What we find here in Genesis is a description of the Garden of Eden.  Many people have tried to discover it's exact location by this description.  The easiest thing is simply to visit Armenia because my dear Armenian friends are convinced the Garden was in their precious land!  And maybe it was, but the point was that in the Garden was the source of all the mighty rivers which would have been known during the time of the writing of Genesis.  Today the source cannot be found -- and are we surprised?  No, because when we go to the very final book of the Bible we find a description of the New Jerusalem where God is the source of the great river which brings life to the all the world.  When humanity sinned, the source of eternal life was removed from the earth until the Messiah came and pointed us into a future where God would reign and be the source for all of humanity.  This is why Jesus could come and speak to the woman at the well and tell her about water which would quench her thirst eternally.  This is why the Holy Spirit indwells God's children, so that he can satisfy the thirsting of our souls.

Application:

The issue of water is very significant in the Middle East.  Today wars are fought over access to water and the supply which remains is tenuous, at best.  Many people struggle with having an adequate supply of good water and the situation will probably only become worse.  There is not enough good clean water getting to the people of this earth.  And therein lies the significance for the people of God.  There is not enough water both physically and spiritually.  When God is the source of the water there is enough to sustain humanity both spiritually and physically throughout all of eternity.  The problem for us comes when we look to the wrong source to quench our thirst.

What do we thirst after today?  Money, power, prestige, things…and yet do they quench our thirst?  No, after we have been satisfied for a period of time we have to look for more for we are thirty again.  And then we need more of the same thing. 

We have the privilege of drinking from the well that never will run dry!  The archaeologists and geologists may not be able to find the physical source of these four rivers anymore -- but that's because they're looking in the wrong place!  God's children can go to the source on a daily basis and have their thirst quenched  in a way that will make them satisfied with life and the journey on which they are traveling.  A daily satisfaction -- by resting in the arms of God.  Now there is a beautiful picture in which there is no war, no arguing, no fighting and no thirst! 

The source of living water always has been, still is and will forever be available to those who seek him.  Today we begin our journey into 2013.  Will we be satisfied, or keep looking for something different to satisfy our thirst?

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the living water and may this be a year that I drink from your well on a daily basis!  Amen.