The prophet Isaiah once asked, "Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and labor for that which does not satisfy?" (Isaiah 55:2). Talk about timelessly looking into the future. Isn't the question at the heart of so much that plagues our nation today?
So many of us have been using our time and resources to gain things that do not satisfy us. Isn't that the core of the problem? We've been trying to satisfy US. But ironically when humans put themselves first they discover they have an unquenchable thirst.
Which brings me to a modern day prophet whom you may have seen on TV delivering liquid refreshment, but he finds that the places he goes into are such rip offs or caught up in self-centered living that he starts ranting, "Eight dollars for a can of tuna? Sixteen dollars for a hamburger? Clean up on aisle common sense!" And he takes his product out and loads it back on the truck because he says, "People livin' like this have no idea of common sense."
I think in the larger sense the delivery man is talking about people spending money and energy on ways of living that do not refresh, but only make us more alienated from one another and the true source Whose refreshment will make us whole.
The reality is that NONE of us have ever really been able to afford living like this, but the best thing about these "difficult" times is how they cause us to (hopefully) realize this. We all need refreshment all the time that truly refreshes and does not bankrupt us. But for too much of the time and for too long we've been seeking that which does not satisfy. We flit here, we spend there, but do we ever sit still long enough to realize what we really need?
What we really need is a clean up on aisle common sense that leads us away from the unwise spending of our lives. We need instead to drink deeply and REGULARLY from the living water that is available day in and day out week after week from "fountains" all over Carson City.
Jesus said to someone who like us was drinking from things that do not satisfy, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14) Isn't it time for ALL of us to drink deeply from Jesus' well? There's a fountain waiting for you. Go and drink deeply.
• Rev. Bruce Kochsmeier, senior pastor, First Presbyterian Church Carson City