Episode Transcript  

One

Living on What’s Dead

It’s a weird fact of our human condition that we keep ourselves alive by consuming what is lifeless. Animals have to die, plants have to die, for us to be nourished with their substance. And even the water we drink is made up of introducing elements, hydrogen and oxygen. This is what it means to be a living organism: that we keep introducing what is lifeless to stay alive.

And that’s why it’s such a strange way of talking when Jesus encourages people to feed themselves not on what’s dead or lifeless, but to eat and drink what is alive.

Two

Living on What’s Alive

On at least two occasions, Jesus tells people they should stop trying to be satisfied with lifeless food and drink. The first is when He tells the Samaritan woman that she shouldn’t be content with water from a bucket. That woman had already filled her bucket who knows how many times, but that lifeless water had left her thirsty each time, so she’d had to keep going back.  

The Lord tells her that if she knew with whom she was speaking, she’d ask Him, Jesus, for living water, and she’d never go thirsty again. And then a little later in the same Gospel, Jesus criticizes the people for following Him just because they’d had their fill of bread. But, of course, that dead bread left them hungry again, so they were trying to get more out of Jesus.

Jesus said, “Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures.” That bread would never satisfy. They’d just keep needing more and more. Instead, they should ask Him for the bread from Heaven, the Bread of Life. And then, of course, Jesus explains what He means, “I am the bread of life,” He says. “Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Three

Dead vs. Alive

Something is dead when it comes to an end. When its limits have been reached. When it’s over. Our food is dead, lifeless when it comes into our bodies. It’s never going to grow anymore, never going to increase. It can give us whatever nutrients it has, whatever finite ability it has to appease our hunger or slake our thirst, and then, that’s it. We have to go out looking for more. And that’s true of everything in this life.

It’s all got a shelf-life. It’s all dead or going to die. It’s all got a very finite, very limited capacity to satisfy. It’s all over so quickly. The thrill of sex. The five minutes of fame or influence. The taste of revenge. The pleasure, the satisfaction, dissipates almost immediately, and we go out, hungrier and thirstier than before, desperate to try to find more.

Even good things, relationships, family, worthwhile careers, books or songs, or movies, they end. All that’s left is a memory. Until your memory goes. And you die. Like the world itself will die one day. Do you see that what is dead or bound for death simply can’t satisfy? If it comes to an end, its capacity to satisfy is limited. If this life ends in death, it’s not enough. But Christ will not die. He died once, but He’s alive now.

He is Living Water. Once you develop a thirst for His goodness, your thirst will never need to look for anything else. He is the Bread of Life. Once you learn to taste and see the goodness of the Lord, well, then your hunger is over. Because this bread never gives out, it never stops, it never comes to an end, and it never ceases to satisfy.

Four

What are You Striving For? What are You Asking God for?

Jesus warned the Jews not to labor for bread that perishes. He told the Samaritan woman not to settle for anything less than living water. But we all do. Every one of us has disordered attachments. We stake our identity, our worth, our happiness, and peace on something other than God. And deep down, we want those things more than Him.

How can we tell? We worry about them, but worry is not love; it’s fear. We defend them with anger or anxiety. We despair when they’re taken from us. And all the while… we still have God. And we’re not content.

So ask yourself honestly: What’s the thing you think you have to have in order to be okay? Is it a role, a reputation, a relationship, your children, your health, your future? No matter how good it is, if it’s not God, it will fail you. Only Christ is living water. Only union with Him will satisfy the hunger at the core of your soul.

Five

What are we primarily asking God for in our prayers?

Is it any worldly good, even a legitimate worldly good, like getting through a crisis, hitting a career goal, attaining family peace, or something to do with your health? It’s fine to ask for that, but don’t make that the main thing you ask for. Because even if God gives it to you, you won’t be satisfied with it. It’s a passing, dying good. 

Ask God for what is infinitely alive. Ask Him for the Holy Spirit. Pray for living water, and you’ll never thirst again.

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you. 

• This week, start each day by asking God for the Holy Spirit, pray for the Living Water before anything else.

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