THIRSTY... Sunday

Devotional for 6/8/14

There are times when we get so thirsty that our throat seems to stick together or our tongue "cleaves to the roof of our mouth." That thirst may be caused by not having enough water to drink, or as a side effect from some medications, or from activity during the heat of the day, especially in dry weather.    

There are times in our lives when we become spiritually thirsty.  That thirst may be caused by us turning our backs on God, trying to make it on our own without God, or finding something else to be more important than God and putting that first in our lives instead of Him.  It may just be that we have lost interest in feeding our faith, or forgotten those things that we do to maintain our healthy relationship with God such as prayer, meditation, Bible study, fellowship or attending services that build us up.  Another possibility is that we are angry with God over things that have happened and though we still believe He exists, we deny He is loving and merciful and ever present to help us.  Some people don't even know this God and are so dehydrated they are at risk of death, because they either deny God exists or are following a false god.  

There is hope for all of us.  Jesus offers us "living water" to quench our thirst.  The gift of the Holy Spirit was given to his followers on a day we call Pentecost.  We receive the gift of the Spirit in baptism.  The Spirit creates faith in our hearts and gives us the power to share our faith with others.  We then become a part of that river of water.  The living water refreshes us and others, like receiving a tall glass of ice water when we are thirsty on a hot, dry day.  But this water not only quenches the thirst, it cures it so that we no longer thirst again.

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”  By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.  John 7:37-39 (NIV)

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,  but 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.”  John 4:13-14 (NIV)

So are you thirsty?  Let Jesus slake your thirst and let the living waters flow!

written by Jan Andersen