‘Restless, Irritable, and Discontent’

‘Give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty.’
John 4:15

The UCB Word for Today - 11 Oct 2016

In Alcoholics Anonymous’ twelve-step programme those seeking recovery are taught that when they become ‘restless, irritable, and discontent’ they’re in danger of going back to their drug of choice. And that doesn’t work! Why? Because inside each of us there’s a God-shaped blank that only He can fill. Some of us try to fill the blank with human relationships. Jesus met a woman who’d been divorced five times and was now living with her boyfriend. The conversation went like this: ‘Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty”’ (vv. 13-15 NIV 1984 Edition). Your body tells you when it’s hungry and thirsty. So does your soul - and if you’re wise you’ll listen. The only ‘safe’ addiction is total surrender and dependency on God! We all have a tendency to respond to what our flesh craves instead of what our spirit needs. So we turn to things like work, sex, and entertainment. Now we’ve added a new one - the Internet. Psychologists are actually treating people with ‘Internet addiction’. Honestly! King David had it all: power, popularity, pleasure, and possessions. But it left him empty, so he wrote, ‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God’ (Psalm 42:1 NIV 1984 Edition). Learn to recognise when you are ‘restless, irritable, and discontent’ and reach for God.

Luke 19:28-48, Ps 105-106


© 2016: This devotional is produced by UCB, free of charge through the generosity of our supporters. As a gift to the body of Christ, permission is given to Churches and Christian organisations to copy up to a maximum of 52 daily excerpts per year. Excerpts must acknowledge The Word for Today as the source, give the UCB address and inform that free issues of the daily devotional are available for the UK and Republic of Ireland.

The Word For Today is written by Bob and Debby Gass

For more information about the terms of use, contact publications@ucb.co.uk