Jesus Said, "Give Me a Drink"

Among the goals I have set for myself during 2012 is the reading of Oswald Chambers' classic devotional, "My Utmost for His Highest." It has been years since I last read this powerful presentation of biblical truths. And, to be quite frank, I did not get much out of the reading. Perhaps I was hampered by the stiff and stilted English that Chambers used. But I have a new updated version written in today's English, edited by James Reimann. Now I am underlining sections each day as they take on new meaning for me.

In today's devotional - January 18 - I was reminded once again how disoriented we often are in our walk with Christ. Chambers cites the words of Jesus to the woman at the well in John 4:7 - "When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?'" He then makes this bold and rather startling statement: "How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him!" Wow! That statement gives one a jolt!

I don't know about you, but I find it so very easy to ask God to do something for me. All right, many times I command God to do something for me. As our congregation has been learning through two weeks into the Book of Malachi, the defining problem of the people of Israel in the 5th century BC was that they believed God was their servant, rather than they being God's servants. The problem with this mentality is that when God does not do what we command Him to do then we come to the conclusion that He either does not love us any longer or that He has moved away from us.

Chambers did not cite Psalm 103 in his devotional, but he could have with great emphasis. There David writes so succinctly: "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless your holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits" (Psalm 103:1-2, KJV). I so want God to bless me, but how often do I want to bless Him? How often do I simply give to God because my soul, my innermost being, desires to do that? The Lord asks, "Give me a drink" and our response generally is, "Okay, but here is what I want from You, Lord."

This past Sunday I gave my congregation a homework assignment - guess it is still the Village School within me. The assignment was to take 30 minutes and write down a response to this question: "How do I know the love of God?" Then, at the bottom of the page, they were to write these words: "Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so!" Then they were to post this sheet somewhere that could be seen and to know daily that God loved them. When we realize how much God truly loves us and all that He has done and continues to do for us, should we not then "give Him a drink?"

Friends, may we discover anew the joys of blessing the Lord, of sharing with Him a drink of cold water.