So in Isaiah chapter 12, I'll just begin there in verse 2 it says behold God is my salvation
I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song
He has also become my salvation therefore with joy shall you draw?
Water out of the wells of salvation and what I'm pointing out here. Is that the Bible often uses this
This figurative language of a well you'll see this in other passages if you want to go over to John chapter 4 probably a more
Familiar passage, but just using Isaiah 12 as a springboard to kind of point this out that you know
A well is something that the Bible uses figuratively from time to time in the scripture
And I'm setting that up because I'm gonna be preaching a series of sermons where I use that same
Illustration or that same figurative language of a well, okay, so I'm just pointing that out
So you don't think that I'm going too far, you know out there when I start to use this illustration
It's an illustration that the Bible actually uses, and it's one that I've used in my personal life and have
Found it to be beneficial. You know it's it's a guide that we can run on I'll get into all that
I'm kind of getting ahead of myself, but you know again just this illustration here of a well
This is something the Bible uses we see it there in Isaiah chapter 12 where he talks about the wells of salvation
You might have thought of 2nd Peter chapter 2 how when it talks about the prophets false prophets that they are what wells without water
Meaning they are like a well that has no profit, but John chapter 4 would be another familiar passage. This is of course at
You know Jesus is sitting at the well
And he's with the woman of Samaria
And he is talking to her and he's talking about the well of water that is springing up onto everlasting life, right verse
13 Jesus answered and said unto her whosoever drink 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
So is Jesus talking about a literal well is going to be within us of course not he's speaking
You know he's using an analogy a parable. He's speaking figuratively
This is something that he's using to illustrate a greater point right that that eternal life inside of us is going to be
Like a well of water okay, so I'm not reaching when I'm using this illustration that I'm about to put out
Over the next several weeks, but
Again, he's talking about a well of water being in us springing up into everlasting life
You know there's a lot of different ways we could apply that it's kind of outside the outside the scope of this sermon
You know we could talk about how that's going to be you know eternal everlasting. Well. That's a picture of our
Security in Christ that once we're saved. We're always saved
We're always gonna have that well springing up into us also well is something that is supposed to be distributed to other people
We should pour out of that well that is within us we should share the everlasting gospel with other people right
But what I would the way I want to apply this illustration of this use of a well is is having a deeper life
You know having a deeper
You know walk with the Lord and just a deeper sense of satisfaction that we get out of life
And if you would go over to Proverbs chapter number 20 Proverbs chapter number 20
It's one of my favorite verses. You know this is a verse that often comes to mind something
I try to remind myself when it comes to other people
Because we're living you know in a day when you know so many people are living such vain lives
You know so many people are just living lives that don't have a lot of depth
They don't have a very deep well when it comes to life
You know that's you see that and as a result. You know a lot of people are not satisfied in life
You know they're not deriving a lot of sense of self-worth
They're not deriving a lot of sense of purpose in their life
So I really want to talk about over the next couple weeks how to how to live a deeper life how to get a deeper
Well dug in your life, okay, and to dig and what wells it is that we should dig you know where we would dig a well
You know what that well might be how we might dig that well and of course I'm speaking figuratively
But as I pointed out already using several past or several passages of Scripture this morning
That's nothing new you know and even when it comes specifically to speaking figuratively using the example of a well
Okay, so if you look there in Proverbs chapter number 20 verse 5 it says counsel in the heart of man is like deep water
You know where would you find well deep water that would make you think of a well right or a very deep lake?
But a man of understanding will draw it out so that you know the illustration
I believe it's being expressed here in Proverbs 20 verse 5 is that of a well because you draw out of a well
you know you lower the bucket and you bring it up and
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water you know and again
That's a whole nother sermon. You know man who has wisdom who has understanding who has knowledge to share
Obviously that's not something that's all we always find on the surface and this again
I try to remind myself this because people are always you know you know we're all just kind of putting
What we want the world to see you know when we live our lives
You know we're not we're not expressing everything. That's in our heart
We're not always sharing all the knowledge that we have in fact the next verse is you know you know
Every well, let's just turn that I'm gonna butcher it you're there in Proverbs 20
Look just look at the next verse most men will proclaim every man his own goodness, right?
But a faithful man who can find you look a person who has depth who has something to share
Isn't going to be something who just goes out and proclaims that they're gonna be somebody who keeps that to themselves
It's there, but it takes understanding it takes knowledge to draw that out of somebody okay
That's somebody who has depth in their life. They have a depth of character. They have a wisdom
They have understanding they have knowledge, and they know that you know we should not speak in the ears of a fool
we should not as Jesus said cast our pearls before swine and
You know so I always remind myself that about when it comes to people just because people maybe aren't you know sharing deep thoughts
or you know
Speaking very eloquently or you know see maybe on the surface not to have a lot of wisdom that doesn't mean it's not there
Because you know most men will proclaim every man his own goodness the fact the guy that's going around
Wearing you know his so-called
Intellectualism on his sleeve is probably not as intelligent as you like to come across
Anyway, that's kind of I'm kind of going off here, but what I'm talking about digging this well
Okay
Is about having some depth in our lives having depth of character, and this is an illustration that we see throughout scripture
Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number six and look we want to be people who have depth in our character
We want to be people who have depth in our lives in these different areas of our life
We want to be able to dig down deep in certain areas of life and draw water
We know and it's gonna take understanding to draw that out
We're gonna have to know how to dig we're gonna have to know where to dig
We're gonna have to know how to get that water out of that deep well in life
And there's you know several different areas in life that we could apply this to okay and again
This is just something that I've used. This is just something that I think about often
This is how I kind of keep my life and balance try to keep things in check if I feel like
Some area of my life is out of balance
I'll ask myself
You know what wells am I digging am I digging in all the wells that I need to be digging in and it just helps
Me to make sure that I'm not going too deep in one area and too shallow in another or maybe not digging at all
Okay
it's important because we're living in a day where there is a lot of vanity right if we're using this illustration of
Digging down deep and finding cool
You know clear water that's going to provide sustenance to us which is going to strengthen us and it's gonna refresh us
You know having a deeper life, you know, we're living in a time when there's a lot of you know murky surface water, right?
There's a lot of puddles of vanity in this life and using that illustration
In fact Solomon knew this all the way back in his day. Look at Ecclesiastes
Chapter 6 it says in verse 11 seeing there be many things that increase vanity. What is man the better?
So Solomon back in his day saying look there's many things that increase
vanity and look and this is before the advent of you know, the gym bro and an
Instagram and all the vain things that are out there today all the all the vanity that you see all these surface level just
You know
Just meaningless, you know
Things that have no depth that's out there, right? He's saying look there's many things in life that are just vain
There's so many things we could just spend our time in there's so many things that we could just get caught up in
There's so many shallow little pools in life that really aren't going to you know, help us live a deeper life. Okay?
We want to live deeper lives. We don't want to be caught up in these
You know these many things that increase vanity and obviously we're using vanity, you know, meaning that it has no
Likelihood of fulfillment and there's a lot of things that you could a lot of vain things that you could get caught up in
That are not going to offer deep meaningful fulfillment in your life. That's very true
You might get that quick fix. You might feel that quick rush of dopamine
You might get that quick, you know hit of whatever satisfaction in the moment
But over the long run we want to have a deep meaningful life. We're gonna have to dig some wells
We're gonna have to get out a shovel
We're gonna have to know where to dig how to dig and we're gonna have to dig in these certain areas in order to avoid
Living a shallow life. Okay, and look living a shallow life is not just you know means
Being vain in the sense that maybe you're just caught up in yourself
It might be that we're just so we're so focused on digging one well in our life that we've neglected others
It doesn't necessarily mean we're a bad person and doesn't necessarily mean we don't have anything to offer
But it's you know, there might be other areas in our lives where you know what it's not much of a it's not much of a
well, it's more of a puddle and
Maybe it's a dried cracked out puddle that doesn't have any water in it all
Look, we want to be able to have lives that have deep
A
Have depth to them that aren't just these surface, you know the vanities
Now Solomon asked the question here or he says look there are many things that increase vanity. What is man the better?
And you can read a classic
Ecclesiastes and obviously there's a certain level of pessimism in Ecclesiastes, but you know, he also offers answers
If you look at verse 12, he said for who knoweth what is good
For man in this life, he says who knows what is good
All the days of his vain life. He's which he spendeth as a shadow for who can tell a man
What shall be after him under the Sun so we could read chapter 5 and just think like man what a downer
Everything's vanity, right and that is kind of the message of Ecclesiastes
You know that all that life is vanity all is vain say at the preacher
But at the end, you know, the commandment is to fear God and to serve him
You know, that's that's ultimately the answer and you know in between the beginning and the end of the book Solomon does offer
some answers to this question
Who knows what is good for man in life?
If everything's vain, what is it that we should do? Well, we should try to
Dig wells. We should try to have a deeper life and not just get caught up in vanity
Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number 7 verse 1. These are some of the answers. I believe that
Solomon
Offers to that question who knoweth what is good for man. Well, there are some things that are good for us
Yeah, there's a lot of vanity but you know, there's a lot of good things for us to yeah
There's a lot of you know
vain puddles that don't have any depth in this world things that aren't going to offer any real satisfaction or
Sense of purpose in this life, but you know, there's also some wells that we could dig in this life that are going to offer
those things
But it's gonna take effort. It's gonna take knowledge
It's gonna take understanding like a man of understanding will draw out counsel out of a man who has understanding
Look at verse 1 a good name is better than precious ointment and the day of a death and the day of one's birth
So having a good name is something that's not vain, you know
Having a good name, you know means you probably have some depth of character
If you have a good name
Someone would look at you and say that person is a hard worker that person loves the Lord that person is faithful in these areas
They have something to offer they have a good name, you know
They're not somebody who's caught up in vanity. Just making a mess out of their life. Just making mistakes or just
Wasting their time on things that amount to nothing. Okay
First two it is better to go to the house of mourning, you know, so he's offering us a what's good
Well, here's some things that are good to go to the house of mourning, you know, and this is kind of
Countercultural today, isn't it? This is not the philosophy that's out there people today teach that you should avoid suffering at all
Costs. Well, the Bible says it's better to go to the house of mourning because of the fact that suffering is inevitable
He says it's better to go to the house of mourning to go to the house of feasting
For that is the end of all men
We're all going to mourn and the living will lay it to its heart, you know mourning and suffering is unavoidable
So it's a good thing to just embrace that and to understand that's the way life is verse 3 sorrow is better than laughter
So these are the things that are good. These are the things that are going to
you know add
Meaning to life, you know, and that's true, you know, we suffer, you know, we have a deeper appreciate
Appreciation for things, you know, we can relate to other people better. We can sympathize with others. We can empathize with others
When we go through suffering ourselves sorrow is better than laughter. It's better to
be acquainted with grief to be
To know what it is to suffer than to just try to live our lives laughing now
He's not saying you shouldn't never laugh. He's not saying never have a good time
He's just saying if it came down to one between the other sorrow would be better because it's unavoidable
You know laughter is not always guaranteed. That's something that comes and goes
Having a good time verse 3
Sorrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countenance. The heart is made better
It's made better not through laughter, but through sorrow again
I'm just offering the answers that Solomon is offering to his own question who knows what is good for man in this life
Verse 4 the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of fools in the house of mirth
Verse 5 it is better to hear the rebuke of the wise and then for a man to hear the song of fools
I love this verse it's better to hear the rebuke of the wise
It's better to be told what you're doing wrong and how to fix it than to just live your life
vainly listening to the song of fools and
Ignoring counsel and ignoring wisdom ignoring understanding and I always think about this whenever you hear, you know
Some of the music that's being produced today. It's the song of fools
You pull up to the stoplight and it's just like I can't even I can't even repeat what's coming out of these car windows
It's and it's just like it's foolish
Anyway, I don't want to go off on that
But it's better to hear the rebuke of wise verse 8 better is the end of a thing the baby thereof
But the patient and spirit is better than the problem spirit, you know
It's good to be patient person verse 11 wisdom is good with an inheritance and by it
There is profit to them that see the Sun those that are alive those that see the Sun they can profit through wisdom
Okay, and wisdom is something that you have to go after it's a well that you have to dig
Okay, it's something that you have to be has to be pursued in life. It's not on the surface
It's not something that just comes to you. You can't just scroll for that
You can't just you know, click the mouse and get wisdom. You have to do certain things that require
You know effort in your lives to get that wisdom and we're going to talk about that in next week
Again this morning. I'm just kind of giving an introduction to this idea this concept of
You know digging certain of digging wells in your life digging wells that are going to bring depth to your life
They're gonna give you know, a sense of purpose a sense of satisfaction
And it's important you say well, I don't know that I really need this
No, we really do because we're living in a day to day where?
You know, there's just so much vanity out there that we get caught up in
There's just so many vain things that people can pursue and it might feel good in the moment
But then they're gonna get to the back end of life
They're gonna get later on in life and those things no longer satisfy and they're gonna not have that sense of satisfaction
they're not gonna have a sense of purpose and
They're gonna say why is it? It's because you haven't dug these wells. You haven't dug these wells in your life
Mm-hmm
What we're learning from Ecclesiastes and if you would go to chapter 5 is that you know
Having a deep sense of satisfaction having a deep sense of purpose in your life
It's not something that's derived from the intangible
Or excuse me. It's not derived from the tangible
It's not something you can just pick up and manipulate you can't order it on Amazon
You can't go buy it at the store. You can't give money for it
You know the real things that are gonna help us live a deeper life. Those are things that are intangible
There are things that are inward
Wisdom, you know knowledge understanding these are you know things that are within man, right?
Look at Ecclesiastes 5 verse 10. He that love is silver shall not be satisfied with silver
That's one of the biggest vanities that people are caught up in today is money
You know the almighty buck is what people worship today
People I mean this is sold in mass to people
This is probably the biggest vanity that's out there
That if you just accumulate enough wealth that if you just have enough money that somehow your life is going to be better
And look, I'm not saying that having money and paying your bills and taking care of your finances and getting ahead in life
That that's not something that's worth pursuing. But what I am saying is that that's not going to give you a sense of purpose in life
It's not going to give you a deep sense of satisfaction it might not even make you a wise person
He that love is silver shall not be satisfied with silver
It's not going to give you satisfaction
Nor he that loveth abundance with increase
Think if I could just get more stuff if I could just have more things if I could have the latest and greatest this
The latest and greatest that you know, then I'll be happy
But you know what as soon as you unwrap that new whatever and after a day or two
It's just like anything else and then it's on to the next one then it's on to the next one the next newest latest gadget
Whatever it is the latest and greatest car the newest clothes the newest styles all these things and that's why that's oh
There's always perpetual new stuff to go get because it never satisfies
Because abundance does not satisfy if you love abundance, you know
You're not going to be satisfied when you have abundance when you have increase that's vanity
That's not going to leave lead to a deep life
If you would go to Proverbs chapter number nine Proverbs chapter number nine
And we're gonna be in Proverbs several times near the end. So keep something in Proverbs
This idea of digging a deep well this idea of you know getting down into you know
The the some areas in life and digging deep in certain areas of life that are gonna derive a deep sense satisfaction
You know, these these are things that come from the in that are intangible. These don't come from
Things and stuff and worldly pursuits
If you would look at Proverbs chapter number nine, it says verse 12 if thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thyself
But if thou scornest thou long thou alone shall bear, you know wisdom is something that's going to help us immensely
You know, we should be want to what be wise people not just so that we can
You know proclaim our own goodness
But that so we can be a man that has deep understanding
We had it that it can be like deep water in our heart that it can be something that's down in there that it's beneficial
to us
You know a well has great value. I mean think about a literal physical well
You know, especially in a in the area where we live wells are pretty important, aren't they?
When you live in a desert when there isn't a bunch of surface water
You know where you can't just siphon water off of some river or lake somewhere, you know, wells are very
Important thing, you know if it wasn't for wells and air conditioning, you know
Probably most people think that the Southwest wouldn't be what it is
Right, you know and probably wells would be more important than the air conditioning
You know, you could be really nice and cool as you die from thirst, right? You need that well
But a well is something that has great value for who for the one who has dug it
Right when we dig that well, it's for our own sustenance
It's for our own relief and look that this is what I'm trying to preach about over the next couple weeks
So I want to get across there's wells that you need to dig in your life for you for your own well-being
Right. Look I'm all for you know living for others and things like that
You know, I preach that sermon that acronym that you've heard preached probably several times or you know joy
Jesus others you that's how you get joy, right? Jesus others you I'm all for that. I'm all for putting Jesus first
I'm all for putting others after Jesus
But you know what you is part of that acronym, you know, and sometimes we neglect that person
And if you want to look at it like, you know vertically like J o W or J o W J o Y. I know how to spell
You try speaking publicly. It's not as easy as it looks
Jowl
How to have Jowl in your life
J o Y right you it's kind of the base, isn't it? You know, you need to take care of you, you know
Sometimes we don't preach enough about that. Sometimes we want to make it all about everybody else but us and look I understand that there's
There's you know, that's important, you know that needs to be preached. We need to put Jesus first
We need to think about others, but we can't neglect ourselves either. We ought to be wise for ourselves
You know if we take care of ourselves we dig these wells that I'm going to talk about, you know
We'll live a longer life. We'll live a deeper life
We'll live a life where we have more to share, you know
If we can draw more out of a well if we're that man of understanding that has you know
Deep water that understanding that's in us, you know, and somebody comes along that has understanding, you know
We can share that water with them. We can help people
Be wise for thyself
Because the things that people are chasing after today and thinking that that's what's gonna satisfy
The Bible tells us very explicitly that they're not those are the exact things that that so many people are chasing
They're those exact things are just not going to satisfy in life
We write it there go to Proverbs 23 you write it there in Ecclesiastes
That silver shall not be if you love silver. You won't be satisfied with silver if you love to love abundance
You're not gonna be satisfied with increase
And you know the Bible goes says this several times
I can't we can't I'm not gonna take the time to turn all the passages that reminds us that
Money and wealth and things are not what's going to satisfy in life
They're not the things that we should be emphasizing as God's people if we want to live a life
That isn't vain if we want to live a deeper life
If we want to have a life of purpose and meaning and satisfaction, you know
It's not going to be found in the vanity of money. Okay?
Proverbs 23 verse 5 wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not well, what is it? That is not
For riches so certainly make themselves wings
They fly away as the as an eagle toward heaven. I should have had you keep something in Ecclesiastes
But I'll just read to you. It says when goods are increased they are increased that eat them
Right when you get more, it's just more it just seems to go away when goods are increased
They are increased and eat them
Hey when you set your eyes upon that which is not, you know, those riches they make themselves wings and they fly away
You know anyone that gets cut a paycheck on a weekly basis or whatever anyone who has to we know this is true
You know a portion of our check grows wings without us even being able to do anything about it and flies away to the IRS
Doesn't it? It just instantly sprouts wings and before we even get the check, it's just flooded off, you know
It's a to pay taxes, right? But that's just the way money is
You know, it grows wings it flies away as an eagle toward heaven, right?
That I think it's giving it's being a little majestic towards, you know money there, you know, it's like an eagle
Well, it meaning you're not gonna get it. You know that Eagles flies pretty high. You're not gonna be able to get that bird down
Money just goes right and Ecclesiastes, you know
again reiterates this
When goods are increased they increase that eat them those of us that are being fruitful and multiplying. We know this is true
You know as you go through your career and you get more, you know
Capital in your career and you start making more money
It's like oh I'm making more money now. It's like yeah, but now you had another child now
You have another mouth to feed now. You need a bigger house. Now. You need a bigger car now
You need more health insurance. It's like you got more goods, but they're increased that eat them
Right those of us that have are raising, you know larger families. We know this is true
It just seems like you're getting ahead and then it's just like, you know, someone else comes along and says I'll take that
It's the little bird that's sitting in the in the high chair squawking, you know
Feed me right? It's like that that money just grows wings and goes right to that little baby bird
But look if we so if we make our lives about pursuing riches and silver and abundance
Just you're setting yourself up for a vain life
That's the Bible's teaching us you just setting yourself up for a life that has really doesn't have the satisfaction that it could
You're setting yourself up for a life that doesn't have the sense of purpose
That it could if all your life is gonna be about is things and stuff and money
You know what? It's not gonna satisfy. We want to be people have deafness to ourselves. We want to have some depth
We want to have deepness, right?
And this is something that Jesus
also
You know used to illustrate he illustrated this point as well
If you would go to Genesis chapter 26 Genesis chapter number 26, but Jesus talks about the the parable of the sower, right?
About how a man went forth to sow and he sowed seed and some fell on
Certain ground and some fell on other ground and he talks about the stone the excuse me the scene that fell upon stony places
Where they had not much earth, you know, there wasn't much room to grow. It was very shallow earth
Right and forthwith they sprung up. I mean that seed was sown and it sprung up
He became that little, you know that tiny little, you know plant started to spring out of the ground
It was that little tiny stock with a little leaf on it. It did come out. It could have turned into something
It could have gotten big it could have grown and become fruitful and useful and providing shade and you know
Had deep roots that went down. But what was the problem? It didn't have any depth, right?
there was not much earth and forthwith they sprung up because
They had no deepness of earth and when the Sun was up they were scorched
You know as the day prolonged as life went on they withered up
Right. We don't want to be people like this who are just have a shallow life and when life comes along
You know and gets intense when the heat of life gets intense like this Sun
We go through the morning, you know, we go through the lamenting we go through the sorrow that's inevitable that that just comes with life
you know, we don't want to people that just shrivel up and
And and and you know are gone, you know, we want to have depth meaning we have to have deep soil if we're going to endure
we have to have roots that go down deep and
When the Sun was up, they were scorched because they had no root and they withered away
But we know the parable goes on talks about that which fell on good ground that sprang up and increased
Why because it had depth
So I'm just using these illustrations to get a point get across this idea of having a deeper life of digging
in certain areas of our life of getting down deeper putting in a root of digging a well of getting down there so that we
Can have a life of purpose and meaning and not live a life of vanity
And not get caught up and all the things that the world is trying to sell us
You know the lifestyles and the stuff and the things that say oh this is where you're gonna derive happiness and satisfaction and meaning
It's not it's not in money. It's not in things. It's not in stuff
so
You know the antidote to living a vein of vain life is to have depth
So I don't want to live a vain meaningless life and look you you'll hear from people like this from time to time people who?
Have amassed great amounts of wealth
They'll tell you it doesn't satisfy people who have reached you know highest levels of Fame
They'll tell you it doesn't satisfy people who have got all kinds of different things. They'll say it doesn't satisfy
You know I thought if I just got more money and more wealth and more Fame
I'd be a happy person they end up being incredibly depressed because they've been digging the wrong well
You know they haven't been digging in the right place. They'd have no depth they have a vain life
So it let me we don't want to end up like that not that any of us is probably going to achieve some
great level of Fame or riches
You know, but we don't want to live a vain life to any degree
You know we should want to live lives that have meaning and purpose in them
Okay, and you're not gonna find it in the external
You're not gonna find it in the things that are without it has to be something that happens within
So this is you know this is just kind of how I've approached this in life
And I'm just sharing this you know you don't have to do things the way I do things
But this is just something I wanted to preach
You know some and this is just my analogy right that and I'm using an analogy of the Bible uses of wells, right?
So I want to preach just a couple sermons. You know over the next few weeks about the wells of wellness
So I'm just kind of introducing that this morning the wells of wellness, okay
And what I mean by that is that you know digging wells in specific areas of life that are going to make us
Well that are going to make us
Healthier happier and provide more meaning and depth in our lives, and if you would did I have to go to Genesis?
26 Genesis 26 you know this is another story that we hear about when it comes to this idea of wells right Jacob
Was reed was digging these wells again right in verse 12 Isaac
So to land excuse me Isaac not Jacob Isaac
So to land I received the same year in hundred fold and the Lord blessed him and the man
Waxed great and went forward and grew until he became very great
So he's having great possessions right for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and great stores of servants for the Philistines envied him
Okay
For all the wells which his father which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father's the
Philistines had stopped them and filled and filled with earth, so he's digging these wells
He's reed digging the wells of Abraham his father and the Philistines out of envy are stopping them
You know this is the way, and there's a lot of different ways you could apply this passage
I've heard this preached so many different ways
But I'm just gonna use this morning to remind us that you know that's what the world wants to do
To these wells in your life
They want to fill them up the Philistines of vanity the Philistines of the world that it will plug up these wells in your life
To where you will not have the depth that you need in certain areas
verse 16 and Abimelech said to Isaac go from us for thou are much mightier than we and Isaac departed from thence and pitched his
tent in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there and Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of
Abraham his father for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham
and he called them by their names after the names which his father had called them and
Isaac's servants digged in the valley and found there a well of springing water
So, how do they find the springing water they dug
You know, how do they find that water that is like deep counsel in the heart of man?
They had to dig okay, if we want to have a deeper life, we're gonna have to intend to do it
We're gonna have to dig some wells in our lives
And I know I'm kind of being obtuse this morning kind of be a little vague, but this is just the introductory sermon
It's this idea this concept of digging. Okay
Mm-hmm
Digging these wells and he says in verse 20 and the herd men of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herd men
So it's just idea, you know, Isaac keeps trying to dig these wells and when he has success
There's always somebody there that's trying to stop him. There's only someone trying to take the water for themselves
There's somebody there that's trying to fill in those wells. There's you know, he's always having to strive for these wells, right?
That's what it says here
The water is ours and he called the name of the well Isaac because they strove with him
He's saying you know what? I'm having to strive for this well
The world doesn't want you to live a deep life
The world doesn't want you to have depth the world wants you caught up in vanity
You know the world wants you chasing your tail, you know going after riches chasing your tail going after things going after stuff
Thinking these are the things they're gonna satisfy. They're gonna strive with you over over these things
They're gonna strive with you and prevent you from trying to live a deeper life a life that has meaning and purpose
For God and it's gonna you know be beneficial beneficial to you and to the those around you
But what I love about Isaac and the story is he just keeps digging
He doesn't just say well, you know
They filled up dad's wells and I dug it and they came and filled it up and I dug this
Well, we found water and then somebody took it we had to strive for it
You know, we need to dig in our life
We need to get down into some deep things in life and get the wisdom that we need to live life
And it's not on the surface
You're not just gonna find it on the surface
And if you just say well that doesn't sound like any fun. That's not what I want to do
It's not when I spend my life go ahead, but you're going to live a life of vanity
That's what it'll be if it's just all about money and fun and things and stuff. It's gonna be a vain life
You know and you might not you might not feel that way now, you know, you know the youth in the room might think
Oh, no, life's gonna be great because it's just gonna be all about my money. It's gonna be all about the fun
I'm gonna have it's come all the things I'm gonna do and they're gonna do those things and get those things and you're gonna
Find out that I was right
That all those around you that are older and wiser and told try to tell you that they were right
Turns out mom and dad are right turns out the preacher was right turns out brother so-and-so was right
You know, some of the older people in the room are nodding their heads because they know I'm right
People that have just made life about I'm not saying the people not in their heads did this but you know
They know that if they made their life just all about going after things and stuff and money
It's not going to satisfy in the end and you're gonna have regrets
We're all gonna have some level of regrets, you know, the goal in life should be to minimize those things
Not get on later in life and say oh, you know, I wish I just had spend my whole life just pursuing vanity
That's why I'm preaching this. That's why I'm trying to get this across this idea of digging these wells of wellness
So we could have a deeper life, you know depth is something that has to be pursued persistently, right?
That's what I love about Isaac in the story verse 21 and they digged another well
Now, I don't know how many of you in this room have done much digging. I've done my fair share
You know, I worked for an excavating firm for several years. I
Stopped digging when I moved to Arizona. I made a point of that. I
Got a job when I first moved out here
You know cash job off Craigslist
You know digging footers concrete footers and then I found out here the the soil is so hard here
They don't even use forms
Some of you that are native here are going what's a form?
I'm just kidding, you know where I'm from you had to like put the stakes down
You had to set up the two by fours that go down to the ground
You had to like form the concrete because it's all sand. It was easy digging got out here
They're like, oh we don't we don't have to do any of that because the earth itself is so hard
That we don't even need to use forms we just pour the concrete right in the ground and level it off, right?
But you know, I've done a lot of digging, you know, I've
Operated the shovel, you know the the smart end of the shovel for many, you know many hours
You know, I there's a there's a way to do it. But you know what? It's not easy. It's hard. It's difficult
It's not fun
And look if you want to have a deep life if you want to have a life that
Satisfies if you don't want to live a vain life you're going to have to dig
You're gonna have to get out a shovel and start digging you're gonna have to pursue certain things in your life
you're gonna have to you know carve out time in your schedule to do certain things and
Not just make your life about chasing after vanity. Okay
The depth is something that has to be pursued
You know, that's that that's what it means the fact that it's deep it's down in the ground. It has to be gone after
That's
What I love about Isaac and they digged another well and strove for that also and he called the name of it Sitna
You say oh man, that's it
How many wells is this now and he removed from thence and dig another well and for that they strove not
Meaning nobody was there to contend
He was able to dig down and find the water that he needed and he called the name of it
Rehoboeth for he saith for now the Lord hath made room for us and we shall be fruitful in the land
Now when did the fruitfulness come when did he have that promise of abundance and wealth and prosperity after he dug the well?
After he found a well, then he dug and found the water. That's when he was able to be fruitful
So when I say, you know, we're gonna dig the wells of wellness what we're talking about is
Digging wells of wellness meaning having health and prosperity in life
You know and these are not Baptist cuss words
health
Okay, that's not a that's not a dirty word in a Baptist Church
You know prosperity I know I know we're against the prosperity gospel and things like that this name it claim it Pentecostal charismatic
Nonsense, okay. I'm not promoting that but we don't want to run to the other extreme and think oh
We don't want to be prosperous in life. No we do
We want to have health. We want to have prosperity. We want to be fruitful in the land
In order to have that you have to dig in order to do that. You have to have a well dug in a certain area
And I want to just kind of just you know, just dispel any notion of you know
Having health or wellness in life is not something we should pursue the Bible talks about us having health and being prosperous in the Bible
If you would go back to Proverbs 17 Proverbs 17
I'll remind us of 1st Corinthians chapter number 6 which says in verse 19
What no you're not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you
What you have of God in your not your own
For you're bought with the price therefore glorify therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are gods
Sounds to me like God is concerned with the body, you know
And one of the wells that we need to dig in life when it comes to digging wells of wellness is you know our?
physical health
That's a well that needs to be dug. We shouldn't neglect that. Well, I don't want to get ahead of myself
But
Just just there's just this idea of you know
Having health having prosperity taking the time to dig these wells and to and so that we are can prosper as individuals
It's not something that is unbiblical
Look at Proverbs chapter 17 verse 22 a merry heart do with good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dry at the bones
You know, we should want to have that merry heart. We should want to what do good
We should want to have that medicine that wellness in our life go to Proverbs 16
Proverbs chapter number 16
It says there in verse 24 pleasant words are as in honeycomb sweet to the soul and health to the bones. Oh
The Bible doesn't talk about health the Bible doesn't care about you know, how we are physically
No, it's time about having health to the bones, right?
Having being in what about go to Proverbs chapter 3. What about in 3rd John beloved? I wish you're going to Proverbs 3 beloved
I wish all things that thou mayest
Prosper and be in health
I mean, that's the Apostle John saying I hope that you are what I pray that you would be that you would prosper and be
in health
You know, and that's something that I would want for this church as well, you know
I want people in this room to prosper. I want the people in this room to be in health
I want that for my own life. I want that for my family. I want that for you know anybody
That's that's that's something that we should wish upon others, but it's also something we should wish for ourselves
And all I'm trying to do in this series is get across the you know
Help you to understand where we should be digging
You know where we should be investing our time in order to be prosperous in order to have the health
That we need in in many different forms
Proverbs chapter 3 verse 7 be not wise and I know nice fear the Lord and depart from evil
It shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones
You can say always speaking figuratively there, but you know in a lot of ways that's literal
You know if you depart from evil that's gonna do you well physically it's gonna be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones
You know if you get away from the evil of alcohol if you get away from the evil of drug use if you get away
from the evil of cigarettes and other intoxicants if you get away from
You know the the sin of fornication these other things that's gonna be literally health to you
That's gonna do you good physically, you know, you're not gonna, you know, obviously there's no guarantees in life
You know and there's more one more than one way to
To suffer but you know, we minimize the chances of dealing with a lot of diseases if we depart from evil
We're not gonna deal with the throat cancer
You know if we're not, you know putting in the chaw, we're not gonna have our lower jaw cut off
It sounds like a crazy story, but I've known people like that
You know, they started dipping, you know
Chaw or what are they calling?
Tobacco yeah, the chewing tobacco and you know, eventually they develop, you know jaw cancer and have had their whole lower jaw removed
You know, they're not gonna get the lung cancer. They're not gonna you know, get the you know, the disease of the liver
They're not going to go through these different difficulties that
Other people go through because they refuse to depart from evil
You know and these evils that people are chasing after day are vanity
They're vanity
the drunkenness the fornication
Intoxication all of these things they chase after it depart from evil
It shall be health to thine evil and marrow to thy bones. Go to Proverbs 4
Just go over
You're probably just one page Proverbs 4 verse 20 my son attend to my words incline thine ear unto my sayings
Let them not depart from thine eyes
Keep them in the midst of thine heart for they a life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh
You know the commandments the words of God, you know, these things are life and health unto us they will do us good
Spiritually physically mentally it will help us be in and it will help us be in health and it will help us to prosper
Okay, so again, I'm just talking about I'm just using an analogy that I this is just something I use for myself that I'm just sharing
With you this idea, you know in order to avoid living a vain life of having a deeper more deeper
Significantly purposeful life
Through digging the wells. Okay, and really the way I do this is I just kind of break up
You know the different areas of my life into five different wells. That's ten. I'm at five
If you're paying attention, you know five different wells and just as means of quickly to just introduce this
The five wells that we'll talk about are the wells of wisdom and this is you know, an order of importance wisdom
Well-being meaning physically mentally
Welcome, you know, I'll explain that and there's because there's further you don't like alliteration. You're not gonna like the series
Because there's a literated sub points that I'm not getting into. Okay, you have to come up to find out what is the well of welcome
Well, you got to come to find out the well of work, right? That's important and the well of wonder
You know, these are five wells that I try to dig in my life
You know consistently
And I'm always trying to make sure that I have the specific shovel that I'm doing my daily digging
Yeah, you know and digging these wells so I don't end up living a vain life so that I can be in health and prosperity
And I just want to share that with you because I and again, this is just my method and I'll tell you this
This is not original with me
This is something I've distilled from other people and kind of personalized it for myself this idea of car pen a lot car car
Compartment I can't even say it compartemental izing
Dividing or sectioning up, you know different areas of your life and
Trying to you know dig in these different areas or work on and focus on these different areas in life
Right, that's something I got from somebody else. I just brought in the analogy of a well because I liked it
I like the letter W not Y and I like you know
The idea that the Bible uses a well, okay
So the five wells we'll talk about is wisdom well-being welcome work and wonder
It's it's not original with me. You say why preach this?
I'll tell you why I'm preaching this because life demands balance
Life demands balance if we make our life all about one well and not another we're gonna be out of whack
And we're gonna live we're not gonna be
You know, we're not gonna live the the deep life like we could we're going to suffer we're not gonna have
We're not gonna profit from that. So, you know, that's why I'm preaching it because life demands balance and you know having a system
Having a perspective on life is better than not having one at all
So and if you're gonna tune this out, you know, you're just maybe you'll skip the Sunday morning series, you know
Hopefully you'll you'll go ahead and get a system anyway
I'm just offering this as you know a track to run on I'm not saying you have to do things exactly the way I do it
You have to use these exact analogies. You have to use my alliteration. You have to you know, make it your own
That's what I did, you know personalize the lessons
For yourself pay attention and apply it to your life, you know, and and obviously this morning was a little bit more vague
Obviously, it wasn't really specific. It was just kind of introducing this concept
Of living a deeper life of digging these wells in our lives, but it's an important concept
It's one that we should be thinking about. It's one that we should be, you know, trying to
Manifest in our own lives in some shape or form, you know, whether you're going to use what I provide here or or not
That's fine. But make sure you're doing something
To not, you know to avoid living a vain life
Do something, personalize these lessons
Because we don't want to be people who just go through life just you know with no depth
We want to be people that have something to offer
Offer to our children, offer to those around us. We want to have depth in order to do that
We got to dig some wells. I'm just gonna go ahead and you know
Explain the five wells of wellness that I try to do
Let's go and pray