In 1513, he discovered Florida and explored it’s coast. Legend has it that he was seeking a “fountain of youth.” In Florida, he encountered a tribe of Indians who were said to be seven foot tall. I am sure he was impressed by this tall tribe, being only about four-foot-seven himself. He observed them drinking from a deep flowing spring and possibly thought that the water they drank gave them such a robust physic and height. But sadly and ironically, this tall tribe contracted an epidemic, possibly from the Europeans, that totally wiped out their existence. Ponce de Leon himself died in Cuba after being mortally wounded by Indians during his 1521-colonization expedition to Florida.

This spring’s coolness was refreshing. The main spring found in the park is actually the coming together of two flows of water from a limestone cavity. These two flows produce more than 14 million gallons of crystal clear water daily. A dip in the spring is invigorating because the spring remains a constant 68 degrees. But of the numerous springs found throughout Florida, none has been proven to be the “fountain of youth.”

Billions of dollars are spent by Americans each year searching for a modern “fountain of youth.” Vitamins, Valium, health food and health spas are just some of the ways people. Try to prolong and live a more productive life. But like Ponce de Leon, man has yet to find the “fountain of youth.”

The psalmist David said, concerning the brevity of life, “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow.” Psalm 90:10 (NASB)

On a TV news report, some heart and lung transplant candidates were being interviewed about a possible breakthrough in the near future of transplant organs from pigs, whose hearts and lungs most resemble those of humans. When asked if he would receive a transplant from a pig, knowing all the risks involved, one man replied, “Yes, if I could prolong my life one day, I would do what ever is necessary.”

God’s Word speaks of the futility of man’s effort to produce a “fountain of youth” to enable him to live eternally. “Why should I fear in the days of adversity, when the iniquity of my foes surrounds me, Even those who trust in their wealth and boast in the abundance of their riches? No man can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him. For the redemption of his soul is costly and he should cease trying forever… that he should live on eternally; That he should not undergo decay.” Psalm 49:5-9 (NASB)

While man has not found the “fountain of youth,” nor will he by his own endeavor, God Himself has provided the “fountain of youth.” Psalm 49:8 says, “The redemption of his soul is costly.” The hymn writer William Cowper described that cost: “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains…” The Bible makes it plain that “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. (See Romans 6:23)

Yes, the price of our redemption was costly. It was the death of God’s only begotten Son on the cruel cross for our sins. But through His death and sacrifice on the cross, God has opened a “fountain of youth.” “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
The gospel is the good news of eternal Life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

As my wife and I walked through that cold stream, flowing from one of the possible springs of Ponce de Leon’s “fountain of youth,” I was reminded how we all need times of refreshing and renewal. Isaiah prophesied of that reality. “Do you not know… The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator… does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable… though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength, They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40: 28-31 (NASB)

As you wait upon the Lord in worship, prayer, and meditation on His Word, your strength can be renewed like the eagles. What a “fountain of youth” there is that flows from the presence of God.

Are you searching for the “fountain of youth?” It is found in the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ. He is the Living Water. To all searchers of that fountain, He proclaims, “the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:14. Plunge into that fountain today.

A. Admit you have sinned. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

B. Believe in Jesus. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

C. Confess and leave your sin. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9