Recently, I’ve been making a concerted effort to drink more water during the day and I’m realizing that I’ve been dehydrated for a long time. The past couple of days I have felt more energetic and healthy by merely taking advantage of the water resource that has been  around me all along. You don’t have to be a doctor to understand that not drinking enough water is detrimental to your health. Conversely, drinking water the way you’re supposed to has a ton of health benefits. My experience is that most people don’t drink enough water. They find it difficult to hydrate properly even though they have water all around them all the time.

I’m not even going to get into the fact that millions of people all over the world are suffering daily due to not having access to drinkable water. I do however, want to briefly discuss the idea of having what we need all around us and the common fact that most people don’t take advantage of it.

I’ve been on staff at a church for almost 10 years and I have found that this unfortunate tendency doesn’t just apply to water, but to a lot of other important things. People have all the water they need all around them and still they’re dehydrated. Many have access to a gym, but they never get to it. Through Kindle, Amazon and tons of other sources, we have more spiritual nourishment on tap than ever before and yet so many are starving spiritually. Through smart phones, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and many other sites, we have limitless opportunities to connect, and yet so many are relationally bankrupt.

What in the world is going on? How can we be so resourced and yet so poor? How can we have so much and yet have so little?

Priorities. It’s simply a matter of not knowing what matters. We have lost site of the target. Maybe we never even knew what the target was. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.“ (John 10:10) This particular translation doesn’t even fully do what Jesus said justice. The original Greek word for “full” is perissos and it means, “exceeding some number or measure or rank or need.” He is saying that he came to bring life that is overflowing. Overflowing life spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically. That’s the target. That’s the bulls eye.

The first step to getting it is recognizing the places we’re not experiencing it. Too many people are not doing well and yet succumb to the pressure of pretending that they are just fine. Have the courage to call what is broke, broken. This isn’t a call to be a pessimist, it’s a call to be a visionary. A visionary sees what is and what could be. The gap in between those two puts a fire in his heart to fight for that preferable tomorrow.

So where are you dehydrated? Where are you filling up on things that don’t satisfy you? Are you ready to acknowledge the gap between what is and what could be? Overflowing and abundant life is the goal. Let’s fight for it!!