January 31st, 2023
Can you remember a time when you were very thirsty? The thirstiest I’ve ever been was on a hike when I didn’t pack enough water. I was rationing my last bottle and felt like I wasn’t going to make it. The human body can go about 3 days without water, so I was totally fine, but when you’re really thirsty, it feels like you won’t survive an hour. Most of us probably have the access to water, coffee, and soda, that we aren’t truly thirsty very often. However, water is the primary component of our bodies and it’s absolutely necessary for every function. When your body needs more fluids, it signals a part of your brain that then puts every other drive on the back burner until you drink. What is so interesting about this is that the fluids you drink don’t actually reach your bloodstream for about 10 minutes, but the moment you drink enough water, your body releases dopamine and makes you feel sated. Thirst is not the actual absence of fluid in your body, but a feeling. It’s the brain’s response to a signal that it needs something to live. However, if you consistently go without adequate water, your brain will adjust to its environment and not signal that it’s thirsty. Your body learns to live with less than what it needs—surviving, but not functioning the way it should.
All of this is even more interesting when you consider how many times the scriptures reference the thirst of our souls. Over and over again, spiritual life, the Holy Spirit, and God’s presence are compared to water. David, known as a man after God’s own heart, understood what it was to thirst for the presence of One he loved:
“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1-2)
Oh God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)
I love the picture these scriptures paint. Think of what it is to be thirsty! You may force your brain away from the thought of water with effort, but it will be back in moments. Your mouth feels dry. Your throat hurts. If you don’t get water, you will begin to feel light-headed and faint. Extreme dehydration will cause hallucinations and absolute desperation.
Do you know what it is to be thirsty for God? Do you know what it is to have every other desire become secondary? Do you know what it is to long for Him, as you would for water in the desert? Our souls need Him more than our bodies need water. So many Christians though, have learned to live with just enough of Him to not feel the desperation. Just as our natural bodies will adapt and learn to live dehydrated, our souls will adjust to surviving without the life that God intends for us to have. In Isaiah 55:1-5, Jehovah calls to His people saying,
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live;"
Hear that your soul may live. Just as God asked His people then, I believe He’s asking us now, “Why are you laboring for that which will not satisfy?” Nothing we could desire in this life will compare with the life that’s in His presence. This truth is echoed in Revelation 21:6, as the Father says,
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning, and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.”
We could spend our whole lives trying to satisfy the thirst of our soul with everything the world has to offer—even good things—and end up empty. However, God is waiting to fill us with the only thing that gives us life and out of that provision will flow everything we need. What is the only qualification God gives for being filled? Hunger and thirst. Jesus said in Matthew 5:6,
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
He’s not asking us to work for it. He’s not asking us to prove our worth. He’s asking us simply to come if we’re thirsty. Jesus said in John 7:37,
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Jesus said that about the Holy Spirit (John 7:39). The One who satisfies our souls, flowing with life and freedom, is the same One who hovered over the waters at creation. He will fill us and then flow from us to touch the world around us! Jesus said,
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
So, I want to ask you this week, what is the longing of your soul? Are you thirsty? Do you ache for His presence, as David did? Is He the pursuit that drowns out every other pursuit? God’s plan for you is not to live dehydrated of His presence but adapted to survive. If we aren’t abiding in Him, with rivers of living water flowing from us, then there is more. He is satisfaction for the thirsty soul. He is provision in the wilderness. He is the river that flows with life, hope, and healing. Are you thirsty?
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Revelation 22:17)
All of this is even more interesting when you consider how many times the scriptures reference the thirst of our souls. Over and over again, spiritual life, the Holy Spirit, and God’s presence are compared to water. David, known as a man after God’s own heart, understood what it was to thirst for the presence of One he loved:
“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1-2)
Oh God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)
I love the picture these scriptures paint. Think of what it is to be thirsty! You may force your brain away from the thought of water with effort, but it will be back in moments. Your mouth feels dry. Your throat hurts. If you don’t get water, you will begin to feel light-headed and faint. Extreme dehydration will cause hallucinations and absolute desperation.
Do you know what it is to be thirsty for God? Do you know what it is to have every other desire become secondary? Do you know what it is to long for Him, as you would for water in the desert? Our souls need Him more than our bodies need water. So many Christians though, have learned to live with just enough of Him to not feel the desperation. Just as our natural bodies will adapt and learn to live dehydrated, our souls will adjust to surviving without the life that God intends for us to have. In Isaiah 55:1-5, Jehovah calls to His people saying,
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live;"
Hear that your soul may live. Just as God asked His people then, I believe He’s asking us now, “Why are you laboring for that which will not satisfy?” Nothing we could desire in this life will compare with the life that’s in His presence. This truth is echoed in Revelation 21:6, as the Father says,
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning, and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.”
We could spend our whole lives trying to satisfy the thirst of our soul with everything the world has to offer—even good things—and end up empty. However, God is waiting to fill us with the only thing that gives us life and out of that provision will flow everything we need. What is the only qualification God gives for being filled? Hunger and thirst. Jesus said in Matthew 5:6,
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
He’s not asking us to work for it. He’s not asking us to prove our worth. He’s asking us simply to come if we’re thirsty. Jesus said in John 7:37,
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Jesus said that about the Holy Spirit (John 7:39). The One who satisfies our souls, flowing with life and freedom, is the same One who hovered over the waters at creation. He will fill us and then flow from us to touch the world around us! Jesus said,
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
So, I want to ask you this week, what is the longing of your soul? Are you thirsty? Do you ache for His presence, as David did? Is He the pursuit that drowns out every other pursuit? God’s plan for you is not to live dehydrated of His presence but adapted to survive. If we aren’t abiding in Him, with rivers of living water flowing from us, then there is more. He is satisfaction for the thirsty soul. He is provision in the wilderness. He is the river that flows with life, hope, and healing. Are you thirsty?
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Revelation 22:17)
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