Stay With It
If you have ever had a bacterial infection, you’ve probably been prescribed antibiotics to treat it. Antibiotics are medicines that treat bacterial infections by either killing the bacteria or making it more difficult for them to grow and multiply. Illnesses that can be treated by antibiotics include respiratory tract infections such as whooping cough and pneumonia, as well as skin infections.
You’ll also remember your doctor telling you that it’s important to take ALL of the antibiotics, even after our symptoms have gone away. They tell us to do this because taking them regularly until the prescription is complete helps ensure that all of the illness-causing bacteria are killed or prevented from multiplying. Even if our symptoms go away, the bacteria may still be present in our body. If we stop treatment before the antibiotic treatment is over, the remaining bacteria can continue to multiply. If these bacteria become resistant to the antibiotics, they can potentially do even more harm. It may take us longer to recover from our illness and our physician may have to prescribe more medication.
While our salvation is the ultimate cure for our sin nature, it is our sanctification — our daily walk in Christ — that brings us ongoing spiritual health.
"But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation — if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant" (Colossians 1:22-23, NIV).
"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5, ESV).
"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:3-11, NIV).
Our Deepest Need
Lookout Mountain rises 2,000 feet above sea level, offering views of the Cumberland Plateau, the Tennessee River, and the surrounding mountains and valleys. While that is the most familiar and popular natural wonder of this area of America, what is deeper inside is more impressive.
1,120 feet below the surface of Lookout Mountain is our country’s tallest and deepest underground waterfall - Ruby Falls. Ruby Falls opened to the public in 1929. The historic landmark, which welcomes more than half a million guests annually, offers 3 tiers of tours, all of which start off in a glass elevator that takes tourists 260 feet into the heart of the cave. From there, tourists explore the natural beauty at the place selected by the tourist.
In a higher and holier sense, this hidden wonder speaks to what Jesus is saying to His listeners then, now, and always. Our spiritual growth is related to the pace and depth we desire to have in our relationship with Him and His Word.
Jesus wants the bottom of the ocean-deep relationship with us. Our relationship with Him is limited only by 1) how deep we ourselves will delve; and 2) by how deep we'll allow Him to penetrate our hearts and lives. He is a gentleman. He will walk and talk with us only as much as we want Him to walk and talk with us.
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:16-19, NIV).
Have You Had Your Water Quota Today?
We’ve all heard the age-old advice to drink eight cups of water a day. But if you fall short of drinking your 64 ounces, don’t worry. New information published in the journal Science suggests that advice is wrong anyway.
The results of this new research says that for most healthy adults, drinking eight cups of water a day is completely unnecessary. The advice is misguided in part because it doesn’t take into account all the water we get from our food as well as other beverages like coffee and tea. The research found that our water needs vary from one person to the next depending on factors like age, gender, size, physical activity, and the climate we live in.
The advice to drink eight cups of water a day stems from a 1945 recommendation from the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council, which encouraged adults to consume about 64 ounces of water daily.
The advice is so widely ingrained that many companies use it to market products. We can buy 64-ounce water bottles designed to motivate us to drink the equivalent of eight cups of water daily. There are even water-bottle sensors that will track our water intake and remind us to “hydrate” every 30 to 40 minutes.
"So how much water should you drink?" asks Washington Post journalist Anahad O’Connor. "The answer is simple according to this research: Drink when you’re thirsty. Prioritize water. Try to avoid sugary drinks. Coffee and tea are fine. Keep in mind that we get water from our food as well. Some water-rich foods are fruits, vegetables, beans, yogurt, brown rice, and soups."
This research helps us learn how much H2O we really need. But what about our need for Living Water, as Jesus describes Himself. How much of that water do we really need?
We both drink of Him, once unto salvation, and we drink of Him daily, moment by moment, unto our sustanence and sanctification.
Prioritize the Living Water! Come to Him. Drink Him in, and you will never thirst again! What other motivation do we need to drink a steady stream from this well?
As Jesus said to the woman at the well,“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water” (John 4:13-15, ESV).