“I will pour water on him who is thirsty” (Isaiah 44:3)

When saints lose their thirst for Living Water, they forget to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). They forget the first and great commandment of unconditional love: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

Saints stop drinking Living Water when they fall into sin or are disappointed with God. They look at God as a taskmaster, and think they are somehow justified to withhold their love. They perform religious duties without feeling, and develop a form of godliness without the energy and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Peter diagnosed “spiritual burnout” this way: If you’ve become barren or unfruitful in your relationship with Christ, you’ve become “shortsighted, even to blindness, and have forgotten that you were cleansed from your old sins” (2 Peter 1:9).

Being ungrateful for what Christ did for you is evidence you’ve left your first love. If you think you’re justified to withhold love from Christ, you need to repent and unconditionally submit to His Lordship. If you think God owes you something for your faithful service to Him, you’ve returned to a “dead works” view of salvation. You’ve believed “another gospel”, and need to repent (Hebrews 6:1, Galatians 1:8).

Ask Christ’s forgiveness for having forgotten He cleansed you with His blood, and by faith, drink Living Waters: “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

“Purify your hearts, you double-minded … Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:8-10).

For more on the subject of “when God hides His face”, click here.

.

.