Spending just a few minutes each day reading the Bible, with the help of a plan and some notes, makes the it easier to understand.
Thirst and the heart
A student of Animal Biology at the University of Guelph, Canada, recently wrote the following to some friends who, like her, are also Bible students:
“In Physiology class this week, we were discussing bulk flow of blood in the body. My professor said something in passing which caused me to further research the topic. The heart triggers thirst. Here is a brief outline of the science we talked about.
Osmoreceptors (in the atria and ventricles of the heart) are designed to recognize a change in the solute concentration of the interstitial fluid (fluid between the capilleries). These osmoreceptors then communicate with the brain when water is drawn out of the cells, which then releases the hormone vasopressin into the blood.
| vasopressin - controls excretion of water. It is a peptide hormone released by the posterior pituitary gland in the brain. High levels of vasopressin cause water retention by the kidney, which does not create as much waste and keeps all useful water inside the body. |
In a nut shell, the heart is the primary organ to recognize that there is not enough water in the body. It tells the brain that water needs to be retained because there is a shortage, and the brain in turn tells the kidney to retain water – to excrete less.
In the Bible Jesus said to a Samaritan women who gave him water from the well:
"Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4v13-14)
Water on the earth that we need for our earthly bodies is not eternally fulfilling, it is temporary. Thirst only leads to discomfort, irritation, and inconvenience at times. But, think about how well received a glass of cool water is on a boiling hot day! The heart is only to glad to be topped up! That glass of water; may improve your spirits, it may make you promise to yourself that you are never going to let yourself go thirsty again, that you will drink those 8 glasses of water a day!
But the water Jesus was telling the Samaritan woman about is completely compatible with the heart because the ‘water of life’ is the word of God. By ‘drinking’ this water the heart will not suffer from dehydration, it will not wilt, it will not ask for more nutrition, it will not be making any demands of the brain. The heart will be made whole, it will be content, it will be filled with love and wonder.
When I read this verse, having just talked about the relationship with thirst and the heart at school, it became special for me. No wonder Jesus was talking to the woman about living water... the heart is the battery of the body, it is VERY closely linked with the brain.
When the water of life fills our hearts and minds then we try to do the things we are commanded to do by God and by Jesus himself. Our hearts and minds will be perfectly in tune with the mind of Jesus and so increase our love for him.
So, while we drink physical water to keep our hearts 'ticking', we also need to remember to fill our minds and hearts with the 'water of life' and try to do the things that we are commanded. Only then will our heart and mind be perfectly in tune with God, who created us and has promised us everlasting life.”
The ‘water of life’ can be available to us every day, by reading the Bible. It not only helps us live our lives now, it also gives us a real hope for the future.