Dharius Daniels - Danger of The Thirst Trap

Glad to have you! Gospel of John, chapter number four, beginning at verse number seven. Whoo! Ready for the word? Whoo! Ready for the word? Amen! John chapter four, verse seven says, «When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink? ' His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, 'You’re a Jew, and I’m a Samaritan. How can you ask me for a drink? For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.' Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.' 'Sir, ' the woman said, 'you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and livestock? ' Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' Clap your hands for the genius of Jesus! Genius!

I want to talk from this subject today: I want to talk about the danger of the thirst trap, a danger of the thirst trap. For those who may be unfamiliar with the title I’ve tagged to this text as a topic for today’s teaching, the word „thirst trap“ is an urban euphemism, used to describe the activity of individuals who engage in said activity for the purpose of gaining attention, receiving affirmation, and enlarging and expanding their ego. When an individual does anything provocative or non-provocative to get attention, receive affirmation, and inflate the ego, people familiar with this terminology observe and say, „That’s thirsty!“ Somebody say „thirsty!“

I’d like to suggest that this term has been myopically minimized to refer to a group of people who belong to a certain generation, a certain gender, and who engage in this activity in certain ways. I want to contend that you don’t have to be young, a woman, or provocative to be thirsty. Thirstiness does not discriminate! I think we have all observed young people who were thirsty, and we’ve observed older people who were thirsty. That old dude who shouldn’t be in the club, who’s still trying to hit on women—this is the real side! For some reason, I just feel it over here. Somebody say, „thirsty!“

Thirstiness is an expression of a larger, unaddressed, and unexposed issue. Thirstiness expresses a lack of fulfillment, and the activities that people engage in to feel fulfilled are external actions that only temporarily quench their thirst. Consequently, people must repeatedly and consistently revisit something that does not have the capacity to fully satisfy their thirst. The area in which they feel thirsty, and the void they seek to fill, can only be filled by God. That’s a God-shaped void. He created you with that void; it’s attached to your identity. You were created not to be an independent being but to be dependent upon Him. You are longing for something. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes, „God has placed eternity in our hearts,“ and many people in life are searching for something that will fulfill that longing. They discover that outside wells cannot adequately satisfy the thirstiness of their soul.

Thirst is a trap. It keeps us stuck in cycles of dysfunction and in repetitive and redundant behavior. When I attempt to fill my inside well with outside water, it only temporarily quenches my thirst. This is why accomplishments only fulfill one temporarily. When you accomplish something, you receive affirmation, experience the inflation of the ego, and feel the fulfillment that comes with realizing your potential. I understand that. However, once the achievement fades, that thirstiness returns because accomplishment can’t fill the void in our soul.

Acquisitions function the same way. We can acquire something if we have worked hard. The Bible says it’s okay to enjoy the fruits of your labor—we understand that. But when something is acquired or purchased, there is a feeling of satisfaction for a season until it gets old. Once it gets old, that thirstiness returns. Am I making sense, family? Our acquisitions cannot fulfill the void in our soul. God does not remove the emptiness because He wants to use that emptiness as an impetus to drive you to Him. He wants you to see that nobody can do it like He can. He wants you to understand that nothing can fulfill you like He can. He desires for you to keep searching, looking, and seeking until you find the One who can satisfy your soul, quench your thirst, and give you fulfillment from the inside out, not from the outside in. He wants you to find Him because until you get Him, nothing will ever be enough. It doesn’t matter how many „them“ you have, and you can switch the „thems,“ and it won’t be enough. You can switch jobs, and it won’t be enough. You can achieve more, and it won’t be enough. You can increase your credentials, and it won’t be enough because the hole that’s in your heart is too enormous to be filled by anything other than the One.