BIBLE SURVIVAL - BEANS AND WATER

BIBLE SURVIVAL - BEANS AND WATER

I was laughing about the half bag of beans I still have in my cabinet – not eaten yet! They were a part of my survival plan in case of an emergency. I bought them back in 2015, and I’m still working on getting them eaten. I also bought gallons and gallons of water, which I either drank or used to water the plants. The story of the beans and water showed me how our Bible survival is dependent on some spiritual beans and water too.   

 

Beans are a staple, and they last for a long time without going bad. I got my big bag of beans five years ago, and when I cooked some up recently, they were delicious. They are a great source of protein, complex carbohydrates, fiber, and fat. They’re also a powerhouse of nutrients including antioxidants, and vitamins and minerals such as copper, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.

 

For me, the beans represented the solid, well-known Biblical principles, such as “love God and love your neighbors as yourself,” and stories that always teach us a great lesson, like David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah, Joseph and the Pharaoh, etc.

 

Then there’s water. The gallons of water I was saving for an emergency were way more maintenance than the beans. The plastic on the gallons would begin to break down. I’d see the bottles bend, shrink and lose their shape and then their water, little by little. I had to keep track of the dates on the water and use it before it got stale. It reminded me of how we need to faithfully keep finding new refreshing water from the Word of God, so our soul lives don’t get dull.

 

Finding new things to refresh and delight us, takes more work than tending the “beans.” Psalm 42:1 gives us the essence of what our attitude needs be each week: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” Psalm 43:19 tells us: “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”

 

Rivers in the desert are surprises, delights, and true survival to a thirsty soul. We need new delights in our Christian walk. The Lord has lots of new delights for us. He says in Psalm 29:3 that “the voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.”

 

God sometimes hides His treasures in plain sight. We seek them, and He promises “the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” The Lord’s water “springs” up. The wording indicates a freshness of activity and excitement. God’s water is bubbling and even sometimes turns into the most precious wine. When Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding party, it was the best wine the guests tasted, and it was a wonderful celebration.

 

Some of you go to a church where you often hear new sermons to inspire you. If that doesn’t happen for you, then you can easily go on YouTube and check out some new preachers that may talk about things you haven’t heard in church. John 7:38 tells us that living water flows from people filled with the Holy Spirit, and I believe this verse is talking about more than speaking in your personal prayer language: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Also, you often hear me talk about doing a word study on a favorite passage. That activity always gets me excited and refreshed.

 

Beans and water. Let’s keep solid and faithful in the old, well-proven statutes of God’s Word and let’s keep seeking the treasures we can discover in the Lord’s rivers in the desert.

 

Love, Carolyn