THIRST SATISFIED

In the last day, that great day of

the feast, Jesus stood and cried

saying, “If any man thirst, let

him come unto me, and drink.

John 7:37

Most parents have heard their children say, “I'm so thirsty I could faint.” Most of the time, that's probably not true. Children often exaggerate in terms like that. We can remember times, though, when we were very thirsty to the point of great discomfort.

Anyone who has had any kind of surgery knows they had to adhere to strict intake rules prior to surgery. For several hours prior to surgery, there is usually a requirement of no food or fluid intake. I recall when I had gall bladder surgery. A surgeon couldn't come for several hours so I went longer than usual not eating or drinking anything. I made a comment to a young nurse about three hours before surgery that my mouth was so dry, I could hardly stand it. She reached in her pocket, unwrapped a piece of candy (with red and white stripes) and gave it to me. She said it wouldn't hurt. Never in my life did anything taste so good and it even brought moisture to my mouth. When finally taken to the operating room, a nurse smelled peppermint when the anesthetic mask was about to be put on my face. She took it off and told the surgeon she thought I had been eating or drinking something recently. He questioned me and I told him what had happened. He was furious but decided to go ahead with the surgery. I hope that sweet young nurse didn't get in any trouble.

In our national park, folks are warned all the time to never go on extended hikes without taking a good supply of water with them. Physical thirst is something that can come on us in a very gradual way, especially if we aren't being active at home or in the office. The thing is that no matter our activity or lack thereof, thirst is something that can ever so slowly creep up on us. Then when an even minor thirst presents itself, we can be surprised. If out in a deserted place with no hope of help, be it on a mountain or desert area, thirst can be perilous for anyone. When not alert to the seriousness of the body's need for fluids, there can be a serious health event that can occur.

A side note is in remembering that Jesus in His humanity, from the cross uttered: “ I thirst.” As dire as His thirst must have been after all of the sweat and blood loss, all He was offered was a vinegar-type drink which He refused. Only water would have sufficed to satisfy His thirst at that moment. Satan may offer us substitutes to satisfy our spiritual thirst but only “Living Water” can satisfy.

Spiritual thirst is another kind of thirst that can approach our spiritual bodies ever so slowly and subtly. We can be doing all the spiritual activity we think we need to stay spiritually sound. However, spiritual activity minus proper motive can tend to zap us spiritually instead of building us. Church activity is good, but for many, they could volunteer at a local hospital and glean the same personal satisfaction.

John 4 is one of my favorite chapters in the Gospel writings. There is a variety of lessons to be learned from this chapter where we read of a one on one meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan lady. It was an awkward meeting for the lady in many ways. She probably couldn't believe that Jesus, a Jew, would want to talk with a Samaritan. That would have been considered a no-no in that day. She was also at the well at an odd time of day, when other women would not usually go mid-day for water. She was a woman of questionable character that was probably known by others in the area.

Jesus took the opportunity to use the well and the water in it to minister to her. He knew of her thirst, a spiritual thirst she knew nothing of. She wasn't acquainted with the source of spiritual water Jesus was offering her. She had looked for satisfaction to life in all the wrong places. The life waters she drank from were polluted, sickening and addictive. The life waters, spiritual water, Jesus presented would change her life, quench her thirst for the right things of life.

Jesus assured her that the water she would draw from the well would never permanently satisfy her thirst. She would have to come back and forth on a daily basis. Jesus was offering her another kind of water...living water. It was all hard for her to grasp, but He went on with His illustration:

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 ever-

lasting life. (John 4:14)

A side note is in remembering that Jesus in His humanity, from the cross uttered: “ I thirst.” As dire as His thirst must have been after all of the sweat and blood loss, all He was offered was a vinegar-type drink which He refused. Satan may offer us substitutes to satisfy our spiritual thirst but only “Living Water” can satisfy.

As much as we can enjoy a cool drink of water on a hot day, I would pray for us that we know of that water Jesus speaks of that is living water that only comes from the well of God's Holy Spirit. We must stay alert to our tendency to spiritual thirst. Satan would have us be a dried up Christian in whom is no fruitfulness or life to use in influencing others for Christ.