A HEALTHY THIRST

As the deer pants for the
water brooks,
so my soul pants for You,
O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God...
Psalm 42:1,2a

There are so many wonderful places in our national park we can go to for refreshment and renewal whether traveling by car or even by foot. Brian and I have been all over the place, but a favorite place we have hiked to is the Walker sister's cabin. Anyone who has been there knows it is a hike almost straight up. There are a few flat places along the way where one can catch a breath, but those places are few and far between.

Our last trip up to the cabin was pretty uneventful, but much more tiring on me than I thought it would be. I could have curled up in a cabin loft for a nice long nap. After having time for a sufficient rest, we began the trip back down to the parking lot. One would have thought this wouldn't be much of a problem as the return trip to the parking lot would be primarily a downward trek. About a third of the way down, I was feeling faint, found a rock to lean against, but knew immediately that I had to have some water. We had failed to take any with us. There was a tiny, pretty, clear- running stream just off the trail. It was too far down for just leaning into the water so what were we to do? I was desperate. Soooooo.....

It dawned on me that I had a fairly new pair of moccasins on my feet. I pulled one off, handed it to Brian and asked him to dip it into the water and bring me a moccasin full of water. Anymore, Brian knows no matter how crazy something is coming from me, I'm generally quite serious about my request. With his long arm, he managed to get me a moccasin full of water. I have never had a more delightful, refreshing glass (shoe) of water as that water was from my moccasin.

I have seen our mountain deer, drinking from one of many cool, refreshing streams. I don't see them hanging out around the streams. They seem to drink when thirsty and when the thirst is quenched, they go on their way chewing on grass or just doing whatever deer do. When their bodies are thirsty, they seem to respond quickly to drinking all they want in that moment. Any body, whether animal or human, has a physical need for water (or maybe a Diet Coke?) and the natural reaction to that thirst, is get something to drink right away. It's just born into any living being.

Psalm 42 is a very emotional one. We don't know it's author, but whoever he was, he knew something about animals. He had observed somewhere along the way, the cravings or needs of such animals as deer. He quickly switched his thinking to spiritual craving in the heart of believers. I don't know about you, but there are times when my spiritual thirst reaches a real high and I can't figure out why. It's not that I haven't read my Bible, prayed or been in God's house for worship. Then there are those times when I haven't been as faithful in my spiritual walk when those water brooks call louder to me than times past.

There's no great lesson here. We know when our soul is panting (longing, thirsting) for our living God. When one is a believer, the Holy Spirit has a way of pulling and tugging at us to draw nearer to God and be refreshed. Notice our Scripture tells us we are being drawn to THE living God. So how do we do it?

First let me say that there are no spiritual shortcuts. There's no spiritual pill to take or Bible vitamin we can swallow. When we are spiritually thirsty there is only one way to God and that's to get into His Word. I'm not talking about being in church or a class of some kind even though those things can help. A spiritual thirst problem is a personal thirst problem. It means one on One with Jesus in His Word...getting back to spiritual basics.

For me, I spend time in Psalms where I find joy, Proverbs where I find wisdom and a Gospel like John for Jesus. These things can vary, but I like to spend time in each of those areas. When my heart is panting of thirst for the water brooks of God, going to the source of that precious water (of the Word) is my only satisfaction. I don't have to drink from a moccasin. God makes it so much easier to just drink from the water He provides anytime I want a good drink of water whether I'm real thirsty or just seeking moments of refreshment.

Dear Father, thank You for providing Your living water through Your Son and Your Spirit. Thank You for always being available to me when my spirit cries for relief of my thirst and that I need never run dry. I love and appreciate You in so many ways. I pray through Jesus....Amen