When a body does not possess as much water and fluids as it should, dehydration sets in. Dehydration can be mild, moderate or severe, life threatening if not replenished with liquids. According to Men’s Health, there are 6 stages of dehydration, traced by the color of one’s urine. When exercising in the summer sun, dehydration can lead to symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. In a worst case scenario, death can occur like the tragedy of Korey Stringer, a former Minnesota Viking who passed away on August 1st, 2001 following an NFL training camp practice.
There are others who are dying of spiritual thirst, unable to find the living water Jesus promises in John 4. I spent the first 15 years in isolation, using my stuttering as an excuse to avoid intimate relationships. Whenever you can’t communicate, express your feelings or make an emotional connection with someone, a part of you begins to die inside. Spiritual dehydration commences once an individual is cut off from meaningful conversation which enriches one’s life. If this separation continues, souls become cold and numb, on the verge of dying of thirst.
This is where we find a Samaritan woman, who had become a social outcast even among her own people. After 4 broken relationships, the word on the street wasn’t kind. Terms such as adulterer, prostitute or whore were likely whispered behind her back. John 4:7-26 records an interesting conversation between 2 polar opposites between a prophet and someone searching for meaning in life. Hot and thirsty, Jesus breaks the ice, then changes the topic of conversation from the weather to eternity. Before the day was over, this lost soul is introduced to living water which quenched her thirst. May this story quench your spiritual thirst and give you assurance for eternity.
by Jay Mankus
