Hi, this is Joni Eareckson Tada, and welcome to Joni and Friends.
I started drinking diet Snapples. Now for all you lovers of diet Snapple out there, I’m not saying it’s bad… it’s just that it’s bad for me, what can I say?
I found that I was purchasing one small 12-pack of diet Snapple drinks, thinking that would last me for the week. But then I was surprised to find out how quickly I’d go through a 12-pack. I was drinking three or four diet Snapples a day – now all that liquid is, no doubt, good for the system, but you know how diet drinks are: the aspartame makes you thirstier. Little wonder I was purchasing more diet Snapple drinks than I had intended, because the more I drank, the thirstier I became! That’s just the nature of diet drinks.
Well, I shared this problem with a friend of mine, and this was her solution… She asked me what flavor I usually liked in diet Snapples, and I mentioned lemon or raspberry or whatever. Well, my friend got me a couple of 8-ounce bottles of spring water and then she just flavored those bottles with a little bit of lime juice. Boy, did that do the trick. Because I discovered that nothing refreshes like real water. We don’t think it will, at first… we crave that Coke or the lemonade or something diet, but it’s fresh water that can only really satisfy… and my thirst was quenched after that bottle of lime water, and I decided that there really is nothing like keeping a couple of bottles of spring water next to the computer when you’re working.
The whole thing reminds me of what really quenches the thirst in our own life, the deep-down thirst we all have. Sure, we find substitutes, but they only make us thirstier for the real thing – “The Living Water.” Listen to the conversation Jesus has with the woman at the well in John 4:10-13.“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’ ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?’ Referring to the water in the well, Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.’”
Isn’t that the truth?! Jesus says again in John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” Isn’t that great? Friend, you’re not just a bottle of diet Snapple to the thirsty people around you; no, out of you can flow streams of living water to refresh others who are thirsty for more than this life can give. But that’s not all. There’s more.
There’s a future in water because we are told in Revelation 7, “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Nothing satisfies on earth like the real thing, and nothing satisfies in heaven like the real thing. As you’re going down your list of resolutions, I’ve got one for you to add at the bottom of your list… how about if you commit to being living water to thirsty people around you? Satisfy them, would you, with the Good News of Jesus… and if you need a reminder to keep that resolution, think about it the next time you pick up a diet drink.
Please write or visit me today at joniandfriends.org. Of course, you can always call by dialing 1-888-522-5664. Here’s hoping to hear from you today!
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