Have you showered today?

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." --John 4:13-14

I went to bed feeling weary tonight, not physically, but spiritually. Jon and I had a few conversations that didn't go the way I'd planned, Grace was being her sassy 3-going-on-13-year-old self, and I was just… weary. Overall it's really been a good day, so I couldn't figure out why I felt so weighed down. But as I have lain here, tossing and turning and not able to sleep, it hit me: I haven't spent quiet time with the Lord today… or yesterday… or the day before.

OK, let me ask you a question. How many of you showered today? Let me see those hands. How about yesterday? How about Monday? Really? All three days? Good job! J Seriously, although once in a while life gets crazy and we may have to skip a day, it's a rarity, right? And I can't even TELL you the last time I went TWO DAYS without showering! Why? Because it's gross! Right?

And yet, how much more important is it for our spirits to be cleansed? Repenting of our sins, growing in the Lord, basking in His love, laying our burdens at His feet—these are the warm water and soap to rinse away the grime we pick up daily. Praying and reading the Bible keep us healthy and clean before God. If I miss a day with Him, I may notice it but not pay too much attention—kind of like a day without a shower. I know it need it the next day. J But after three days without this vital part of my routine, I am feeling… well, spiritually stinky, for lack of a better term. The build-up of the fallen world is just too much after a few days without washing it in the Living Water.

So have you showered today? Not with water from the tap, but with living water that comes from God alone? Let him wash away your sins, your burdens, the dirt of this world, so that you may be clean and ready to face a new day.

Have a blessed week.