SUCKING ON PEBBLES & LOOSEN YOUR GRIP

SUCKING ON PEBBLES & LOOSEN YOUR GRIP June 8, 2003 Given by: Elder Billy Mathews [Index of Past Messages] Several weeks ago, Rich asked if I would fill in for him this morning, and since I knew he would ask me sometime, I have been trying to capture thoughts that I could preach on. My lesson this morning has two titles, that is because when Rich asked me to preach for him this morning, I had only put two of my thoughts down for possible sermons, but I felt they would not provide enough material for a full sermon, so I decided I would just preach two short sermons. The first sermon is called "Sucking on Pebbles" -- I'll explain that more in a moment; the second one is titled "Loosen your Grip." When I first considered these topics, I really considered them separately, and I had planned to present them as two different topics for you to consider. As I prepared my notes for these two lessons, I began to see that they are related, and they caused me to reflect, again, more deeply on my personal relationship with Jesus. I pray I can present these thoughts to you in such a way that you have cause to reflect, and you reflect on God's word for your answers. Sucking on Pebbles Several months ago, Rich, Brent and I were meeting and discussing spiritual life, and the description I used for my personal spiritual life was sucking on pebbles. Rich told me had never heard of that term before, so maybe I should explain. If any of you are hikers, or outdoor type people, you may have been told that to avoid a great thirst, you should suck on a pebble while you are hiking or doing any strenuous activity outside - that is where my sermon title comes from I am preaching on how to avoid thirst. We are all on a long, often strenuous journey - LIFE, and sometimes we find ourselves with at great spiritual thirst. The advice to suck on a pebble has other equivalents, some may suck on hard candy, chew gum or other substances to generate saliva and keep your mouth moist. But, I grew up in Texas, and my cousin told me to suck on a pebble to keep from getting thirsty when we were hiking through the hill country. So, I've always remembered that sucking on a pebble will satisfy a thirst - temporarily. So, when we were discussing our spiritual life, I could describe my state as one of sucking on pebbles - my spiritual thirst was being satisfied, but not fully. I want to ask you, what is your thirst for? In Matthew 5:6 Jesus says: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." How do you satisfy your thirst? Or, how have you tried to satisfy it? Prayer? Bible Study? Worship? Cell? Sunday School? Fellowship? Or have you just ignored it? As I began preparing this lesson, I began to look at scripture that addressed thirst, and how to satisfy that thirst. I want to share some of those scriptures and some observations I've drawn, mainly from my life: First, John 4:5-14: "So He came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman therefore said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." Often, we are like the woman at the well - we want this water, not for spiritual satisfaction, but for physical satisfaction. Are you sure you know what you want, do you want spiritual satisfaction or just physical satisfaction? Why you want it, and what are you willing to give to receive it? In John 6:35-37 Christ is talking to the crowd that has followed him to Capernaum because he had fed them bread: Let me read it for you "Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. "But I said to you, that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." Do we believe this - that Christ will provide, or are we as the multitude seeking after Christ for the physical provisions? I have to check my heart regularly, I know I focus too much on this earthy life, yet I want my spiritual hunger and thirst to be satisfied. The final scripture I want to share with you is Rev 7:16-17 "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes." So I end my first sermon with a question and an admonition. How are you satisfying your thirst? Are you trying to satisfy your thirst by things you do, going to Worship, Cell, etc? Or, or you letting Jesus Christ fill you up and satisfy your thirst. I want to say, quit sucking on pebbles, and drink fully of all Christ has to offer. It is not what you do that will satisfy your thirst, it is who you let fill you. Loosen Your Grip In 1984, Cheryl gave me a birthday present, a book by Chuck Swindoll, called Strengthening Your Grip. Really a great book, with a lot of biblical fixed points to hang onto, handles that help us steer our lives in meaningful ways, believable, reliable truth. Truth from the Bible, truth that doesn't change from one generation to the next. His whole book was about how to hold onto these truths, getting a firm grip and not letting go. Actually, I still apply some of the truth I learned reading that book. So, it was surprising to me to get a daily devotional titled Loosen Your Grip. Just the thought that someone would suggest I was holding on too tight was a shock. But, when I read the devotional, it made me think, made me evaluate my position. I would like to share the devotional as it was written, I wish I could give full credit to the author, but all I have it a first name, Jan. The devotional came from Christian Pirate Radio, a web site that provides Christian music and you can also sign up for a daily devotional to be sent to you by email. I've been receiving these devotionals for several years, and occasionally, I will share one with those on the Prayer and Share list. Today, I want to share it with some of my own thoughts. Here is what Jan wrote. "A tenacious grip can send a baseball careening out of a stadium, but it wouldn't bode as well for a golfer. For the Christian, in dealing with the things of this world, we should play it more like a golf game. I have been volunteering as a Victim Advocate in our District Attorney's office for about a year. When I responded to the ad in the paper, asking for volunteers, I wasn't seeking money or a position. Rather, I yearned to do something to "give back" for all the blessings I have been given, something that would dovetail with my abilities and interests. In fact, in most circumstances, I wouldn't even consider working for pay - for several reasons. But since I hadn't sought it, it blended so naturally with my abilities, passions (to help crime victims, for example) and my boss graciously offered to work with my schedule of other commitments, I felt God was dropping this immense blessing into my lap. Notice anything that stands out about the situation? I wasn't clinging to this job. I was loosely holding it. And the blessings were given to me, in abundance. I believe the same principle applies in all of life. I have found that to be true in this devotional ministry, in friendships that I have held loosely etc. They usually thrive. And conversely, when I have clung to something with a closed fist - not wanting God to have any say over it, it has usually turned out disastrously or ended. Think about things in your life - relationships you have clung to - jobs - possessions. Don't you often find that when your grip is tight, God can't do His best work? I don't mean "can't" as in "is not able," - for of course God is sovereign. But He rarely pushes His will on us. Often, relationships wither or die, jobs don't turn out as we had hoped etc. I urge you to look at your life and see what you are clinging to. The only thing we should really cling to with our mind, heart and soul - is our relationship with God. Jan" When I had received this devotional, I thought "how true" - God does bless us so much when we let go and let God. I thought this would be a great devotional to share, and since Rich had recently mentioned that he would be out of town, I thought maybe I could use this devotional for my sermon series. I really wanted to talk about sucking on pebbles, but what I wanted to say would not be a whole sermon, so I was looking for other topics to fill in. As I began to look at these topics, trying to figure out the transition from one to the other, it dawned on me, they were the same lesson from two views. Have you ever had one of those moments when you said, "Oh, I understand now Lord?" Well, I got my moment of understanding. Let me try to explain what I understood. We can try to satisfy our own thirst by sucking on pebbles, by going to church, cell, worship, whatever, but they are not the real thing, the pebbles are not THE ROCK. Only Jesus is the satisfier of your thirst, only he can give your satisfaction that will last. When you have Jesus, you do not need to suck on pebbles. If you know Jesus, but you have an unsatisfied thirst, maybe you are holding on too tight, maybe you want too much control of your life. Maybe it is time to turn it all over to God, let Him be in control, let him provided the living waters. All you need to do is receive Him. I want to ask our prayer team to come up front now. As we end our worship time today, I would not want to leave without giving you an opportunity to proclaim your faith in Jesus. If you have heard Christ calling you, if you would like to quit sucking on pebbles, give up your control of your life and turn it all over to Jesus, now is the time to do that. If you want to ask for prayer, we have a prayer team here to pray with you - we ask that you come now as I pray.     [Back to Top]