A Wellspring of Life

“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” - Jeremiah 2:13

The legend of the Fountain of Youth is one that we’ve all heard about at some point or another; A legend of powerful waters that could heal disease and restore one’s body to a youthful state. This fountain’s earliest “recordings” date back centuries, with probably the most prominent story dating to the 16th century with Sir Ponce de Leon. In 1513, Ponce de Leon sailed from Spain to Florida, reportedly searching for the Fountain of Youth. 

He never found it.

He spent the rest of his life in search of the one thing that he believed would give him joy, peace, and happiness, all in vain. Ponce set aside all other conquests and pursuits to search for the one thing that he felt was most important, while in reality it was the one thing that ultimately eluded to his demise and his legacy becoming one of utter foolishness. His desire to find those alleged waters consumed him, but yet he received nothing in return from them. 

How many times are we just like Ponce de Leon? How many times do we search for something in a place where there is nothing to be found? How often to we find ourselves looking for a sense of happiness and fulfillment, in the mythical waters of our own Fountain of Youth? You see, each of us have a fountain that our flesh wants to run to. We each have a pull toward temporal things that offer a momentary sense of pleasure and exhilaration. The problem is... they are both temporal and momentary. Before we know it we need more and more to remain happy, and it’s not long before we have completely invested ourselves into our fountain.

Everything that takes the rightful place of God, as the first and most important thing in our life, instantly and without exception becomes your personal fountain of youth. Whatever consumes more of your thoughts, energy, and actions than the Lord Jesus Christ is the thing that you are choosing to draw from for your sense of happiness, peace, and fulfillment. A fountain, an idol, a counterfeit; whatever you decide to call it is an utter insult before the face of God. To place anything in our lives above God, is to say that we don’t trust, love, or believe God for who He is.

And it’s not only sinful pleasures! We can get wrapped up in work, or in projects, or in ministry. Ministry can be our Fountain! We could take most anything in our life, and make that our source of fulfillment. Good things, right along with the bad, can fill a spot in our lives that is only supposed to filled by Christ. We neglect the work of the Lord and the eternal rewards found there, to pursue the most elusive and all-consuming passions of the flesh. Before we know it, our time, energy, thoughts, money, and love is invested wholly in our own selfish desires; and in the end, just like Ponce, we receive nothing for them.

Jesus said that He came to give us an abundant life (John 10:10), and that He is willing and able to give us joy (John 16:24), and He will give you fulfillment in your life (Proverbs 10:22). We don’t grasp the reality and glory of eternity, so we choose to live for the here and now. Living for God takes discipline, and an unquenchable thirst to be drawn closer to our Maker, but we have neither of those because we don’t care. Giving in to ourselves is so much easier, and the judgement is so far in the future, we feel like it’s okay to just relax in one little area. STOP IT! Look at all that God has done for you… He deserves your life!

Sometimes I think about how many Christians would readily die for Christ’s sake; but yet how many of us are willing to live for Christ’s sake? How many of us are willing to totally surrender our own dreams, our own desires, and our own ambitions that the Lord might be glorified? How many of us willing to lay aside all other things, to ensure that Jesus is our central focus? It’s not easy; It doesn’t happen all at once; but it is worth it.

I can say all these things, and talk about their importance, but do you believe it? Do you believe that God is the source of joy, and that His desire is to give you peace and fulfillment? Do you believe that nothing is more able, nor more complete in giving you purpose in life and contentment for each day? Do you believe that there is nothing in your life more important than Christ your Savior? Without a firm personal belief in these things, you will never fully trust God, and will revert back to your fountain to bring you what you most desire. To know that God is good, that His plan is perfect, and that His methods are always just, can sometimes be very different than believing those things.

I’m not asking if you know that stuff; I’m asking if you believe it.

Do you believe that God is good, and He will not withhold good from you?

 ~Luke Schwartz