When were you last really thirsty? I remember a three
hour climb to the summit of Snowdon one summer. It was
the most glorious day, 90 degrees in the shade, except
that there was no shade. We were all immensely grateful
to the folk who had the foresight to build a cafe at the
top!
Much longer ago, I recall those sports matches where we
would run around crazily for an hour and a half in
blazing sunshine and come in to gulp down two pints (of
lemonade) with hardly a breath. Years later half an hour
on the squash court produces the same desperate thirst.
Of course, many parts of the world are much hotter and
dryer than Britain. Friends working in Africa are very
careful to drink at least a gallon of liquids every day
to avoid the perils of dehydration. Man can survive for
weeks without food, but only for days without water. In
desert lands where heat and thirst can threaten death,
water is truly valued and really precious.
We are becoming more familiar with the scenes of tragedy
which follow drought in such countries. By comparison,
the difficulties we occasionally face in “water
shortages” are only trivial inconveniences for most of
us. But they perhaps help us to appreciate water a
little more.
It is no surprise that the writers of the Bible in the
arid Near East used water as a symbol to represent the
blessings of God. Water - as essential for plants and
animals as for man - cooling, cleansing, refreshing,
restoring, life-giving.
So the Bible pictures God’s saving activities as
“streams of water flowing in the desert” and looks
forward to the “river of life” flowing in heaven. Jesus
Himself promises springs of living water welling up to
eternal life for all who believe in Him.
There is one simple requirement for people to receive
these blessings of God, symbolised by water. They must
be thirsty! Jesus promises in the Sermon on the Mount,
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”. When we
really long to know God and experience his love and
power in our lives, we will be satisfied. When we are
really thirsty, our thirst will be quenched.
Many people have times in their lives when they feel
that they need God, but surely this “thirst” for God is
something more. The writer of Psalm 42 longed to meet
with God in this way.
“As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the Living God.”
Christians through the ages too have written of this
deep longing for God; Augustine, Martin Luther, the
Wesleys and many more. Why should it be so rare to find
someone today with such a desperate thirst for God?
Somehow we seem too easily satisfied in our experience
of God. So few seem thirsty, even less parched.
Fresh cold water is so freely available that we usually
take it for granted. Perhaps we make the mistake of
treating God the same way.