The Fountain Of Life
For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Psalm 36:9
The more knowledge we acquire, the less wisdom we seem to have. The more economic security we gain, the more boredom we generate. The more worldly pleasure we enjoy, the less satisfied and contented we are with life. We are like a restless sea, finding a little peace here and a little pleasure there, but nothing permanent and satisfying. So the search continues! Men will kill, lie, cheat, steal, and go to war to satisfy their quest for power, pleasure, and wealth, thinking thereby to gain for themselves and their particular group peace, security, contentment, and happiness.
Yet inside us a little voice keeps saying, “We were not meant to be this way—we were meant for better things.” We have a mysterious feeling that there is a fountain somewhere that contains the happiness which makes life worthwhile. We keep saying to ourselves that somewhere, sometime we will stumble onto the secret. Sometimes we feel that we have obtained it—only to find it elusive, leaving us disillusioned, bewildered, and unhappy.
The happiness which brings enduring worth to life is not the superficial happiness that is dependent on circumstances. It is the happiness and contentment that fills the soul even in the midst of the most distressing of circumstances and the most adverse environment.
Near my home is a spring that never varies its flow at any season of the year. Floods may rage nearby, but it will not increase its flow. A long summer’s drought may come, but it will not decrease. It is perennially and always the same. Such is the type of happiness for which we yearn—and it can be found in Christ alone!
Have you discovered this spring yet?
Our Father and our God, You are the living water that quenches eternal thirst. You are the fountain that bubbles up in joy and peace. Lead me daily, Father, to the fountain. Help me to drink deeply of Your happiness, to be refreshed from the spring of hope that is Jesus Christ. In His name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).