Confessions of an Occasional Drinker

These are the confessions of an occasional drinker:

• I don’t drink enough.
• When I drink, I don’t often drink deeply.
• When I drink, I usually drink from more than one container.
• When I drink, I typically sip rather than gulp.
• When I drink, I’m usually distracted.
• When I drink, I often wonder if it will really alter my thoughts. My actions. My words.
• There are times when I do drink and drive.
• There are times when I drink alone.
• There are times when I drink with others.
• There are times when I pretend I don’t have a drinking problem.
• I want others to believe I’m drinking in health conscience ways.
• I seldom talk about my drinking issues with others.

While I do enjoy a glass of wine or a cold beer, my confessions above are of course related to my drinking from the inexhaustible living waters that Jesus has to offer:

John 7:37-39, ESV…

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Having preached on this passage recently, I was reminded of my drinking problem in light of the many truths from these life-giving words of long ago:

1. The soul is thirsty. The body needs water, but the soul needs God.
2. The water is free. No earning. No working for it.
3. The only condition for drinking is to recognize your thirst.
4. The invitation is ongoing. Keep coming. Keep drinking.
5. Drinking deeply will allow you to flow freely. To those closest to you. To your neighbors. To your classmates. To your colleagues.

I believe Jesus’ words of long ago with all my heart. I believe his words give life. I believe Jesus wants to work through you and me in incomprehensible ways—if we’ll keep coming and drinking from him.

I’m not proud of my drinking problem. I do want to drink more. I want to linger in his presence. Not rushed. Not distracted. Not drinking from other superficial wells. Further, I don’t want to hoard these life-giving waters. I want others to experience what it means to drink from Jesus. For the first time. For the rest of their lives.

How about you? Do you have the same drinking problem I have?