“To hunger and thirst after righteousness is when nothing in the world can fascinate us so much as being near God.”—Smith Wigglesworth
The early morning coffee may be brewing and the aroma may be intoxicating, but someone wise and healthy once told me to take a drink of water first—your body needs it more than coffee. I had my doubts, until I tried it. It was like a jolt of cool, refreshing energy flowed from head to toe after a night’s sleep. (The coffee still was worth the wait, though.)
It happened again in a different way yesterday as my daughter and I were nearing the end of a 5K run on a wicked hot and humid day. We began it by looking forward to stopping for an iced coffee on the way home, but as the heat and activity began to take its toll, the only thing that sounded good and right was…water. Pure water. No seltzer, no energy drink, no fruit-flavored water. Just plain water.
Why is that? One reason is that our body is made up of anywhere from 45-75% unflavored water, depending on age and other factors. It’s how God made us. And when you’re thirsty, only the real thing can satisfy and restore that which has been depleted. Alas, God seems to have a type-and-shadow explanation for everything in our lives...
“If anyone is thirsty,” Jesus said loudly to the crowds during the multi-day Feast of Tabernacles, “let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:37)
...Such a strange thing to say. It was nearing harvest time. The people had been celebrating God’s faithfulness and had probably been eating and drinking all sorts of things. The Feast of Tabernacles celebrations, say Bible scholars, included a ceremony called the water libation where a pitcher of water was poured out by the priests on the altar inside the temple as an expression of Israel’s hope for rains to come and produce an abundant harvest. Only water would bring life and fullness. But it’s believed the ceremony had a deeper meaning than that—it was a longing for satisfaction of a spiritual thirst that couldn’t be satisfied by anything but God, and a longing that God would come once again and pour Himself out with refreshing and renewal and hope in the midst of their lives under political turmoil, economic stress, and trying to obey the seemingly impossible commandments of God...
And perhaps somewhere, someone could be heard singing the song of the psalmist: “O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1)...
The more things change, the more things stay the same…
And Jesus stood up in the midst of it all and said in effect, “Hey! Look here. Here I am. I Am what you are longing for and looking for, even if you don’t realize it.” And what’s more, He happened to speak these words on the heels of condemning the religious leaders of the day for being judgmental. “Stop judging by mere appearances!,” Jesus said a few verses earlier in John 7:24.
And as it was then, so it is now: Whatever condition our condition is in, the invitation—a pleading invitation—is to come to the judgment-free zone of mercy and grace, just as we are, to the One who has made us who we are, to be healed, forgiven, restored and filled or filled again with Him and find true satisfaction of thirst that an iced coffee or Gatorade or anything else that is “Jesus plus…” will never assuage.
“Maybe when I’m ready. Maybe when I’ve got my act together. He doesn’t want to see me like this right now. Not today. I ain’t got nothin’. Maybe…” And echoing the prophet Isaiah, Jesus might reply even now…
“Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy grain and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost—simply accept it as a gift from God.
Why do you spend money for that which is not bread,
And your earnings for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight in a]abundance.
Incline your ear to listen and come to Me;
Hear, so that your soul may live…”—Isaiah 55:1-3, Amplified
It is another hot and humid day in New England when thirst will likely be rampant, and just as on that run yesterday, when only pure water will truly satisfy. A good day to remember, and to give praise with a grateful heart, that Jesus’ invitation to “Come!” and be satisfied has no qualification, experience or age requirement…or an expiration date.
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