Thirst...For What?

As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the
living God...
Psalm 42:1,2a

Ever been thirsty...I mean REALLY thirsty? I think of times I have experienced thirst. Always after mowing our lawn, I headed for a faucet or an outside hose. When hiking on trails in the mountains, one can become very thirsty. Brian and I took quite a hike a couple of years ago and forgot to bring water bottles. Coming back down the trail, I was so thirsty I was light headed. I couldn't go another step without water...my thirst was beyond explanation. We were high enough on the mountain that I didn't fear the mountain stream, a tiny one that trickled a few feet from us. I took off my moccasin and begged Brian to dip it in the stream and bring me water. I shook out the moccasin, but that shows you how desperate I was. When I told our daughter Jennie about it, her immediate response was, “MAAAAM” why did you do that?” She's an outdoorsy person so that gave her the willies.

In John 4, Jesus met up with a Samaritan woman at a well. Jewish men didn't speak to or associate with Samaritan women let alone find themselves alone with one. He took the opportunity to talk with her about thirst. As she approached, He simply said, “Give me to drink.” In their conversation, they got around to the real purpose of His conversation with her. He introduced her to a water she knew nothing about. It was/is a water that was living. He assured her if she drank of that water He offered, she would never thirst again. We know what He was talking about. He was speaking of the water that upon acceptance would spring up into everlasting life.

A human being can go without food for many days, but the human body HAS to have liquid on a regular basis for the body to function as it should. The human body can break down and even die if it goes without fluid for a period of ten days or perhaps a few more than that. It is vital and necessary whether we think so or not. When going through the wilderness, the Israelites had gone without water for a time and demanded that Moses do something about it. Riots can occur over the scarcity of water and Moses just about had that on his hands. Fortunately, God provided with the cooperation of Moses. They didn't have to drink it from a moccasin, but did drink of water from a rock.

I believe our world is thirsty...terribly thirsty and I include Christians in this need. There are those who know nothing about that water that heals spiritual thirst, the living water the gives eternal life. We know of people of false religions and cults who have tried to drink of the world's theories and philosophies, but they are still thirsty. In many cases, their thirst leads them into terrible problems as they seek their thirst to be quenched. This unquenched thirst can lead to violence, abuses of different types, addictions and the list could go on and on. Until one drinks of that living water, problems and difficulties will only increase.

We Christians are at fault when we don't drink of that water often enough. Oh, we have drunk from it enough to know of eternal life, but not enough to be fully quenched and satisfied. I read some words of prophecy in Amos 8, verse 11 and it says:

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God,
That I will send a famine in the land,
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.

We know that spiritually we will grow through the food and water provided in the Word of God. I've gone through times in my life when I was so hungry and thirsty for the things of God and yet was too busy or lazy to go to the Book that would satisfy my needs.

It's interesting that God spoke of the days to come when He would send a famine in the land. I believe we are presently in the middle of that famine in our country. It's a famine being experienced by people who refused the wooing of God for salvation. It's also a famine in the lives of Christians who have become so casual in their spirituality that they don't even sense that hunger and thirst. Some go through the motions...attending church, seminars, socials, and all those things that could make one feel they are a part of a spiritual country club. There is little commitment to the things of God.

It's summer...hot, humid...a good glass of ice water tastes good and is so refreshing. We are also in the heat of our days spiritually. We aren't deer lapping up water from a stream, we are children of God who should daily be thirsting for the living water of God. Jesus spoke of that water to the Samaritan woman, and thus to us in our world today.

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 4:14

So my friends, no matter the weather or circumstances, let us take a nice, deep drink Jesus provides and eat of the food of His Word. Both will satisfy like nothing else the world has to offer. By the way, being hungry and thirsty for the things of God doesn't necessarily mean we have been slack in our attention to spiritual things. Even though I eat and drink regularly, I still find myself hungry and thirsty again in a few hours. Continuing to have a thirst and hunger for the things of God is healthy and a good indicator that we are doing something pleasing to Him.

Father, I thirst for more of You in my life...more of Jesus and of Your Spirit. Thank you for the ways you draw me near to Yourself. I know You are the answer to my spiritual hunger and thirst. Keep me close to You...keep me hungry for You and Your ways. In Jesus' precious name....Amen