Thirsty for God?
As we get closer to summer, and experience a few hot spring days, I'm starting to realise I need a better water bottle. And I need to remember to refill it and put it in the fridge when it's empty! Occasionally I'll grab the water bottle in my car and drink a large gulp of very warm water. Yuk.
How I thirst for a cold refreshing drink on a hot day!
Psalm 42 asks us "Where is your thirst?"
Psalm 42:1-2
1As the deer pants for streams of water,so my soul pants for you, my God. 2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
The days on this earth are spiritually exhausting. We live as foreigners and exiles in a temporary world, waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus. We thirst to be with him for all eternity. Where can we go and quench our thirst? Where can we find refreshment?
I always thought the image of a deer panting for water (verse 1) was a nice picture, but actually, I don't think it is. Panting for water is a sign of desperation. When we are desperately seeking life-giving water, it can be a time of anxiety and uncertainty. David is desperate as he writes these words:
Psalm 42:3
3My tears have been my foodday and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
God was with David always, and he is with us always, by His Holy Spirit. But he has also come to be with us in the flesh. Jesus said:
John 4:13-14
13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jesus is our life-giving water. With him we will never thirst. We will never pant for water. He is never far from us, and he never leaves us. When we thirst in this world, it is often because we are focused on having our needs met by this world. Yet in Jesus, our most desperate and necessary needs are met completely and eternally.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the gift of eternal life, the spiritual water that fills me so that I will never thirst again. May I always seek Jesus when I feel thirsty, in need, empty or incomplete. Help me not to seek comfort in the worldly things, which do not truly satisfy, but to find comfort in you, my Lord and Saviour.
Amen.