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soul satisfaction

A human being can live without food for four to six weeks. The best documented record for going without sleep is 11 days. But the human body can last without water only three to five days! And when you stop to think about it, water is also essential for our cleanliness and health.

But as vital as water is to us, there is something we need even more. It’s forgiveness. And you won’t be satisfied until God forgives you.

Remember that mob scene in front of the Roman governor of Judea before Jesus’ crucifixion? When the angry crowd demanded Jesus’ death, “Pilate … took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood.’”¹ But no matter how hard Pilate scrubbed, there was no way for him to wash away the guilt in his heart.

Many people admire Jesus, but they try to wash their “hands” clean of any wrongdoings without God’s forgiveness. Still, the guilt of knowing they’ve broken God’s laws just doesn’t go away. We won’t be satisfied until the Savior washes our sin-guilt away.

Some of us have tried to satisfy our thirst for meaning and purpose through another human being, possessions or pleasure, only to find that our souls are still parched. In the Bible God says, “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”² We’re all ruined by our sinfulness, and we try to fix ourselves through our own efforts, but our lives are still like a desert. “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”³ We won’t be satisfied until we experience the “water of life” that only God can give.

Here is some good news: no matter what you’ve done, you can experience the transformation that comes from God alone. Are you ready to soak your dry heart in God’s downpour?

In the Bible, King David, after committing sexual sin and then murder, cried out in confession to God, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! … Purge me… and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”⁴ For us, the Bible is very clear that only through the death of Christ on the cross can our sins be forgiven. When Christ died, He was punished for our sins and paid the price for all that we’ve done wrong: “For our sake [God] made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”⁵

How much longer are you going to go through life dirty and guilty? Jesus is extending the cleansing of forgiveness to you, but you must receive the Savior in order for your sin-debt to be washed away. You won’t be satisfied until the Savior washes away the penalty of your sins.

One day Jesus sat down by a well and met an immoral woman whose heart was dirty and foul. Because of bitter disappointments, wrong choices, shattered dreams, broken promises, and endless shame, her soul was parched, her thirst unquenchable. But Jesus offered to satisfy her desperate spiritual thirst, offering the “living water” of forgiveness.⁶

Cleansing, forgiveness, and unconditional love are available to all. Jesus satisfies our souls by purifying what is putrid—flushing away our fears and dislodging our disappointments. Step up to the fountain; let Christ be the water of your soul.

His living water is free for the taking, regardless of who you are or what you’ve done. But water only satisfies your thirst if you drink it. It only cleanses when you apply it. And the Savior won’t save you from all your sins unless you receive Him. “To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”⁷ You won’t be satisfied until the Savior washes your sin-debt away and transforms you with his spiritual “water of life.”

Will you admit that you are unacceptable to God without Christ? Will you believe that Jesus died in your place and receive the cleansing “shower” that He offers you? If you’re ready to stop “washing your hands” of Jesus and instead want Him to wash you, why not place your trust entirely in Him and accept His offer of forgiveness.

“Lord Jesus, I confess that I’ve sinned and turned my back on you. I’ve been trying to satisfy my soul’s thirst in ways that are wrong. I now step into the shower of your forgiveness and ask you to save me from my sins. I believe that you died as my substitute, and I now receive you into my life. Amen.”

—Brian Bill

¹ Matthew 27:24, ² Jeremiah 2:13, ³ Isaiah 59:2, ⁴ Psalm 51:2,7, ⁵ 2 Corinthians 5:21, ⁶ John 4:10, ⁷ John 1:12

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