Dehydrated

Wrap your brain around this one, I heard a statistic the other day that really made me scratch my head and ask, "How is this possible?" During a sermon I was listening to, the teacher shared that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. How is it possible that three out of every four people living in the United States of America are depleted of fluid in their bodies? America home of drive-thru restaurants, convenience stores on every corner, and the land of running water in the vast majority of homes throughout the land. I can see how dehydration could be a problem in a third world country, but it just doesn't make sense here in the land of plenty that the majority of people are walking around thirsty? Or are they actually walking around thirsty? Maybe it isn't the lack of something to drink, but instead, maybe it is actually what people are drinking that is the culprit. 

 

Sugar, caffeine, and sodium abound in the types of drinks that most Americans turn to when they start to feel the least bit thirsty. Coffee first thing in the morning, and then throughout the day for many tea or sodas for lunch, breaks, and dinner. The problem here is the three aforementioned ingredients in our drinks of choice are all considered to be diuretics that actually support the removal of fluids from our bodies. The 75% dehydration stat picture is starting to make sense. 

 

Couple that with the group of folks that just don't stop to take a drink when they feel thirsty and all of a sudden, the 75% dehydration stat doesn't seem that far-fetched anymore. Given the understanding that what we choose to drink may be contributing to a state of dehydration, and that many others just don't stop to take in the fluids they need each day, I guess my question is why don't we all just stop and take a drink of some cold, clear, water? Our bodies are comprised of around 70% water anyway, so doesn't it make sense that we would need to be putting into our bodies what we need the most to be healthy and exist? It doesn't make sense to me, knowing that our bodies need a drink, knowing what is good for us to drink, but either choosing the wrong liquid to drink or choosing not to drink at all just doesn't add up.

 

As I pondered how it could be possible that so many people are walking around dehydrated, my mind landed on the fact that we also have a majority of people in America and around the world that are thirsty for God's love, yet they are walking around spiritually dehydrated. Just as is the case with our physical bodies, our spiritual bodies need hydration to be healthy. Jesus confirmed this in His conversation with a lady He encountered at a well. In the Gospel of John Chapter 4, after a long, hot day's journey Jesus sat down beside a well waiting on someone to help Him get a drink. Finally, a woman from Samaria showed up with her bucket to draw water from the well and Jesus asked her for a drink. After going through a "teachable moment" with the lady, Jesus informed her that, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman realized she needed the water that Jesus was offering and she asked Him for a long, cool drink.

 

Are you spiritually dehydrated? When you feel thirsty do you turn to the diuretics of the world that only serve to fill you temporarily, even while they are actually depleting your life and soul of the very Living Water that it needs? Seek Jesus and the water He offers and He will quench the thirst of your soul. "Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst." Today, if you are thirsty you do not have to be dehydrated any longer, take a drink, a long cool drink and He will quench your thirst forevermore!

Coach Carter