The horror of sin

Our attempts to create our own fulfillment usually fail. That's the trouble with sin or anything else we use to try to replace God. It simply will not last. In fact, it will eventually us thirstier than when we started. At first it may seem to satisfy, but eventually sin will always, always take more than it gives. It's like drinking salt water. For a moment it seems to do the trick. But in reality, the more salt water people drink, the thirstier they become. So they keep on drinking, getting thirstier and thirstier, drinking more, getting even more thirstier, and so on---until finally, well, you guessed it, they die. And you know what they die of? All the salt they have taken in demands too much water for their kidneys to keep functioning. So they die of dehydration. That's how it works. It's a false satisfier that winds up killing people. Jesus claims to be just the opposite. He says that He is living water. He says that all we have to do is drink of Him and we'll never be thirsty again; We'll never have that deep longing that just can't seem to be satisfied. In fact, He says that if we drink His water we'll have so much satisfaction, so much love, peace, and joy, that it'll actually be bubbling up from inside our souls and pouring over--- as if we each had a private spring gurgling up inside us. It's a spring that's always available no matter what particular desert we may find ourselves wandering through.