I asked Jan if I could share the following incident. She agreed. 

On Christmas Eve, Jan took a ride to the hospital in an ambulance. She had passed out a few times, the last time was so dramatic, that I heard her hit the floor from across the house. I called for assistance and the local fire department, and an ambulance arrived. Her blood pressure was so low it did not rise enough to keep her conscious. She was told she needed medical help. It was a scary moment.

After a few hours in the hospital and a few bags of intravenous liquids, she had regained her equilibrium enough to return home. We learned a valuable lesson about life. Not enough water in one’s body can cause a whole host of problems.

When Paul was writing about the distinctive nature of a biblical marriage, he described the union between a man and a woman. The two very different individuals would become one flesh, representing the relationship between Christ and the Church. As Paul described the uniqueness of that relationship, he used an example of a husband and wife and applied the uniqueness of that relationship to the Lord’s relationship with us. 

After Jan’s visit to the hospital, I was reminded of Paul’s instructions in Ephesians, “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word” (Ephesians 5: 26-27). This part of the verses caught my attention, “washed by the cleansing of God’s word.”

The presence of God’s word in our lives serves several purposes. One purpose is to keep our faith hydrated and upright standing in the truth.  Many in the Church today are crumbling in their faith because the supportive nature of God’s word is not present in their lives. We have allowed a lack of truth to begin defining our relationship with God and the world. Believers have become too weak to stand in times of personal testing and challenge. 

As the world continues to advance a list of absurdities and falsehoods, only by a daily infusion of God’s word can we hope to stand and not faint. Jan’s physical experience was a prime example of the need for daily hydration of spiritual truth. We will not stand in times of error if God’s word is not up to its full measure. For the last week since the hospital ambulance ride, Jan has been very purposeful about getting enough water. The same holds in our personal lives. A once-a-week sermon won’t keep us spiritually hydrated. Our faith requires a daily intake of God’s truth to keep our faith upright and awake in a deceived world.