Thirst

Spiritual Thirst

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matt.  5: 6.

In this verse, our Lord is giving a blessing on those that hunger and thirst.  I would like to share a little from God’s word about thirst,… and being thirsty.  Only those who experience this thirst will be aware of the blessing that comes from it, and it is those who thirst and are aware of their great need that will be filled.

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.

Jesus said that for anyone to come to Him and be able to drink of Him,    there is the pre-condition of thirst,     If any man thirst………...the thirst must come before the drinking.

We must be aware of our own thirst, and also of the dry condition that exists in the world around us.  David has described this in Psalm 63:   He cries out to the Lord that his own soul thirsts, and not only that, but that he is indeed living in a land where there is no water.  

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.  Psalm 63:1.

If we realize the dryness and emptiness of the things of the world,…. but ….it has the effect of making us understand our own spiritual thirst, then we are truly blessed to have that understanding, ……as our Lord has said in the beautitude…..And we can flee to Him-- and He will fill us with His living water.

The prophet Isaiah gives us a wonderful word concerning those who are thirsty:

For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.  Isaiah 44:3.

And again Isaiah speaks,   Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Isaiah 55:1.

We see again in this passage that it is the awareness of our need that is required to be able to drink.  It is he that has no money, no way of his own to obtain the drink.  But it is freely given to the one who knows his own poverty of spirit, that is, his thirst.

We are all very thankful for the rain we had the other night, but during this time of drought, it caused me to experience a greater sense,   not only my own inner thirst,   but of the thirst of the creation itself.     I found myself thirsting along with the trees, the birds, and the very ground. 

But when the rain came, the sense of joy and thankfulness was a great blessing to me, and I realized how much I had taken rain for granted.  Paul and I sat in prayer and thanksgiving and watched the rain come down.  So, although it has been stressful, I am thankful for the experience of a greater thankfulness for rain itself being a great blessing from God.

I believe spiritual thirst causes a greater praise to come forth from us, as David reflects in our reading from Ps. 42, …..that when he thought upon his thirst,   then he went to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. 

Brothers and sisters, I believe it is because of a spiritual thirst that we gather together  to lift our voices in praise to Him.  I believe that we thirst for it-- and because of this desire-- we come together.  Often in life there is a drought, so to speak, of being able to assemble together with other believers, ….but then--- we experience a thirst for it, and the coming together to sing and pray in His name becomes an even greater blessing.

You know, the woman at the well was not really aware of her spiritual thirst, until our Lord spoke to her of the true water.

Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 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.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.  (That is, from a mere natural water).  Actually, without a second thought, she left her waterpot after a face to face meeting with the true living water.

Let us be thankful for that spiritual thirst that brings us to this true living water.  And let us ask the Lord to keep us ever mindful of our need for that water, that we might worship in spirit and in truth and drink from the water which He only can give.

And  (they) did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 1 Cor. 10:4.

In the Name of our Precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, …Amen.

Written during a time of drought in North GA.