HOW TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES (Back to Sunday School Series)
"Wadda,' you drinkin' today, baby?" Maria asks me.
"Coffee," I reply.
"And a water," I add reluctantly.
For some reason, I prefer what I want instead of what I need.
It's been that way since the beginning.
Our choices make us thirsty, dehydration leaves us weak, and we get confused about what to order.
It's a vicious cycle.
Who can save us from ourselves? Not Maria. She's super, but not supernatural. She's a human, too.
Choosing what we need instead of what we want requires a more potent drink than this world serves.
In John's Gospel, chapter 7, we read how Jesus spent time serving thirsty people who had been ordering off the same menu all their lives. The rules and traditions they sipped on never seemed to quench their thirst.
They suffered from spiritual dehydration, which rendered them helpless to decide what they thought about Jesus.
"I think Jesus is a good Man," some thought.
"He's trying to trick us," others concluded. (V12)
God hands each of us a menu with only One Name on it and patiently waits for us to decide. Will you choose Jesus?
Eternity hangs on the answer, but so does every moment for the rest of your life. Every day presents you with choices, some that make you strong and others that make you weak.
Jesus isn't trying to trick you. He's precisely Who you need before the next choice comes along.
Jesus gives you the power to make the right decisions because Jesus Christ is no ordinary man.
Jesus is the only Son of God, the Living Water, the source of all life, strength and wisdom.
Sometimes, we get a little dry around the edges, confused and shriveled up in our hearts, and start to reach for the wrong things.
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink," Jesus shouts through the dusty din of our exhausting days. (V37)
You and I desperately need what Jesus is pouring every single day. Jesus is the eternal wellspring of forgiveness, mercy, peace and everlasting hope.
It's a thirsty world out there, but we don't have to be.
We can choose Jesus to quench our souls.
"Taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8)