by Graham Mol
Right now it is crazy hot here in Joburg. For the past week or so we have been experiencing a heat wave, with only the briefest rains bringing some blessed cool relief. As a result I find myself drinking a whole lot more water than I normally do. There’s nothing quite like quenching your thirst with some cool and clear water running from the tap (yes I’m one of those people!)
As I think of my increased thirstiness in this hot weather, I am reminded of a verse from one of King David’s psalms:
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1 NIV)
David compares his soul’s longing for God to the thirst one experiences in in the dry wasteland, devoid of moisture. When you find yourself in that situation there is nothing else that you want more than to quench your thirst, nothing is more valuable to you than the cool, clear liquid of life. A man dying of thirst has no desire for gold or for power and recognition. He just wants water. He just wants to not be thirsty anymore.
Whether we realise it or not our soul thirsts for the Lord. There is a longing deep inside us that can only be fulfilled by Him. A relationship with Christ is the living water (a Hebrew term for flowing, fresh water) that we desperately need to be truly alive. Some seek to appease this longing with other things, the pleasures and rewards that the world offers us. And they can distract us from the longing within us… for a time. But if we are truly honest with ourselves, we’re thirsty.
When we understand that God is the only one that can quench our soul-thirst, we will seek Him with all our hearts. We will long for Him with our whole being. And the wonderful thing is that when we do so we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13) and we will no longer be thirsty – not because we won’t need water but because we will always be able to find our refreshment through the abiding presence of His Holy Spirit in our hearts, (John 7:38).
God Bless
Graham
