I discover this every few years, and each time I do I experience a kind of exciting serendipitous déjá vu. I realize I’m not drinking enough water. It might be because I get a certain kind of headache…or the skin on my face feels dry…or I just feel tired overall. But the interesting thing is, I don’t actually feel thirsty. I am thirsty. But I just don’t know it.

Of course I know water is good for me. (It “does a body good” way more than milk.) Besides quenching my thirst, it makes me healthier as it washes all kinds of impurities out of my body. But I forget.

So I discipline myself to drink more water. Okay, eight glasses a day – and I’ll make slash marks on the white board to keep track and make sure I do drink all eight of those glasses. The first one is hard. A few sips. It’s hard to drink even one glassful. But in just a couple of days I can easily drink two or three in a row.

And I feel so much healthier. Vibrant. Beautiful!

And I find that I’m thirsty. I feel thirst. I just had a glassful an hour ago and I find myself thirsting for more.

The thing I discovered years ago – that serendipitous déjá vu discovery I mentioned earlier – is the parallel between drinking water and Living Water.

It takes a certain amount of discipline to read (drink in) even one chapter of the bible if I’ve gotten lazy and am not “in the habit” of doing so. I forget how good it is for me. But if I discipline myself to read, I get a new thirst for it and need to read more. I’m refreshed in places I didn’t even know I needed refreshment. And besides quenching my spiritual thirst, it washes all kinds of impurities out of my mind and spirit!

So…cheers! L’chaim! Drink up!