The Word:
pant
verb
ˈpant
panted; panting; pants
Synonyms of pant
intransitive verb
1a: to breathe quickly, spasmodically, or in a labored manner
b: to run panting
c: to move with or make a throbbing or puffing sound
2: to long eagerly: to YEARN for something
3: to THROB, or PULSATE
4: to palpitate; to beat with preternatural rapidity, as in anxious desire or suspense.
Focal Passage:
“As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song shall be with me—
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.”
Psalms 42:1-2, 8, 11
The Scriptures tell us, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38
I spell it as a proper noun, “Living Water”, because Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit when He says it. As He told Nicodemus, “You must be born again of Spirit and Water.” One of my favorite songs from years ago was, “The Change“, by Steven Curtis Chapman. That song truly spoke to the issue we face in the church today. Does your heart truly pant for Living Water from God, or are you a “feel good” Christian? One who spends a little time, once a week, standing in the mists that waft out from the central flow of Living Water, where tiny droplets cling to your skin and eyebrows. They refresh you, and they make you feel good about yourself. For a moment you even feel spiritual, then, rather than drinking, as the Lord suggested, you walk away and go back to your other life.
Jesus said, “…come to Me and drink,” and His reasoning, as Scripture tells, is that “out of your heart will flow rivers of Living Water.” There has to come a change. At some point in your walk with Christ, you must drink the Living Water so that rivers can flow out of your heart to the world around you. At some point there needs to be a change, you must become a resource rather than a burden. That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t drink regularly. Jesus is the source of the Living Water, but you should be the resource. Your relationship with Him cannot continue to be all take and no give. Does your soul pant for Living Water? It needs to. Stop standing in the mist. Dive in and drink your fill, then “Go” and make disciples by sharing the living water from your heart.
Prayer:
Our Father in Heaven: forgive us that so many of us have not yet come to You for a drink of the Living Water You offer to us for free. I pray your call upon those who stand nearby in the mists. I pray you will draw them fully into the water where the can drink, be filled, and fulfill Christ’s desire that they share freely what You have given us. Fill us with Your Spirit Lord that You might be glorified in every day of the week, not just one. We ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Castaways Point 