I just finished studying the Gospel of John in depth last semester. One of the well-known stories of this Gospel is that of the woman at the well. Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah to her when He tells of His “living water” that satisfies completely. Dear Readers, it is no coincidence that throughout Scripture, our Lord declares Himself to be our living water. Psalm 42 reads, “As a deer pants for streams of water... my soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” In Jeremiah, the Lord declares Himself to be “the spring of living water” (2:13, 17:13) and in John, Jesus tells the woman at the well that He alone could forever quench a person’s thirst for God.
Just as Jesus Christ is the sustainer of our eternal lives, water is the sustainer of all life here on earth. Approximately 70% of the earth is covered with water and approximately 70% of our bodies are made up of water, and while man can survive weeks without food, he can only survive a few days without water. We need water to live!
The amazing benefits of drinking water are numerous, so numerous that I decided to post them elsewhere so as not to clog up our ACAC Threads blog! You can view them here. You can also read about the symptoms of dehydration here.
I’ll end with some easy tips on how to increase your water intake, but first, take two minutes to measure the ounces of your drinking glasses and cups at home. You’d be surprised by how little 8 oz. really is. A couple big gulps is all... and secondly, be gradual. Again, I don’t want you beating yourself up because you couldn’t go from no water a day to 60 oz. a day overnight. Build up to it.
- How much should you drink? Make it easy – drink the standard 64 oz. a day or half your weight in ounces (if you exercise, you’ll want to drink more). Don’t stress yourself out, just drink!
- Start your day off with a quick 8 oz. glass of water. Before I drink my first cup of coffee, I have a small 8 oz. glass of ice cold water. It gets your blood flowing (and your metabolism).
- Make it a point to take all pills and vitamins with water and water only (versus coffee, etc.). I drink a good 1/3 of my daily water intake this way.
- The best thing I ever did to increase my water intake was install the free application “Water Your Body” on my phone. Not only is it easy to keep track of how much water I’ve drank, it reminds me to drink by making the sound of pouring water! There are several applications out there for drinking water; Water Your Body (by Northpark) is just the one I like best. You can also set reminders on your Outlook or phone if you don’t have an app phone.
- Keep a Brita or PUR pitcher on your desk, in your break room, and in your fridge. You can also buy filtrated water bottles to carry with you throughout the day. We ladies in ACAC Operations have a Brita in our office and in the break room, plus at home. You have to make drinking water convenient.
- You can drink filtered, spring, distilled, purified water, and a little bit of herbal tea. Caffeine prevents water from traveling in your body so it is definitely out. Sodas and flavored waters don’t count because the point in drinking water is to cleanse your body of junk, not add more to it. Room temperature or chilled, drink what you like best.
- Soak your favorite fruits in water and the essence of the fruit will flavor the water.
- Have another glass of water before you go to bed. It helps your body replenish while you sleep.
Lastly, whenever you drink water, remember this Scripture, “For with you is the fountain of life;” (Ps. 36:9). Think of Jesus, our living water. Picture the water washing away impurities, “On that day a fountain will be opened ... to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” (Zech. 13:1).
