"Earthly things do not fill." The Lord has been drilling that lesson into my head over and over the past couple of weeks. Nothing fills us except Christ. Everything that was intended to give us joy in this life is intended to do just that - give us joy. Earthly desires and pleasures can't do anything more for us because that is not their purpose. If we expect them to completely satisfy, we will be left disappointed and empty. Family does not fill. Friends do not fill. Romantic attachments do not fill. Music (or fill in your passion) does not fill. You get the point.
I've been reading in John lately and last weekend I came across the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). The exchange between Jesus and this woman is really remarkable. What struck me the most, though, was when He said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." Wow. Everyone who drinks of this water (or, for that matter, any water other than what I give him) will thirst again. But we as believers have a well of water springing up to eternal life.
Quite honestly, I've always been a little baffled by this verse. I've always understood the premise of it - that Jesus is what we need in order to be saved. When I read that, though, there was an instant connection between "Earthly things do not fill" and "Look at the difference in perspective that I have to offer you." God can't hug us or make us feel the way that humans make us feel sometimes, but God does offer us hope and a positive perspective on life. There are so many times when I am just overwhelmed by…whatever. Satan uses anything he can to get us down. When I hand over whatever is frustrating me at the moment to the Lord though, I find that I have peace and renewed sense of perspective. This is the well of water springing up to eternal life and it comes from the Holy Spirit at work within us.
Last Sunday at Grace, the church I attend in Columbia, we sang a song called "Rescue" (you may have heard it before on the Christian radio or elsewhere). When we worship leaders were meeting together before the service though to run through the line-up, we were talking about this song and one of the guitarists mentioned that it reminded him of another passage in John: "…many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?' Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God." (John 6:66-69) We are hungry, thirsty, tired, worn. To whom else shall we go? Why settle for anything except what can completely fill?
Rescue
You are the source of life
I can't be left behind
No one else will do
I will take hold of You
I need You Jesus to come to my rescue
Where else can I go?
There's no other name by which I am saved
Capture me with grace
I will follow You
This world has nothing for me (I will follow You)
Jared Anderson © 2003 Vertical Worship Songs/ASCAP
