Are you thirsty for something more?
Thirst is strange. At times all our thoughts revolve around water because we are so thirsty, but at other times we don’t even realise that we are dehydrated. We ignore the headache and refuse the water which we need. Once, when I was travelling in a desert in Kenya, I didn’t realise that I was dehydrated until I licked some of the salt I had taken with me. It tasted like sugar. Only then would I accept water.
Are you aware of your thirst for the living God?
Jesus called his disciples - Come. Follow me.
He called to the weary - Come and I will give you rest.
To the fishermen - Come and I will make you fishers of men.
And to the whole crowd - Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me…rivers of living water will flow from within them.
(John 7 v 37-38)
Jesus’ invitation ...
for the weary - rest
for the worker - change the focus of their work
for disciples - to follow him
for the thirsty - rivers of living water.
In Isaiah we hear the invitation of the Lord to come to the waters.
We don’t need money. We just need to be thirsty.
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. Isaiah 55 v 1-3
Why do we work so hard for things that do not satisfy?
We buy things we do not want, to impress people we do not like.
Richard Foster
A man’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions - Jesus
Retail therapy is a myth because buying more clothes does not have the power to have a lasting impact on our emotional well-being. Decluttering and giving clothes away is much more likely to help.
We search for the best restaurants, looking for different, exotic cuisine.
‘Come, buy wine and milk…Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.’
When Jesus was sitting by a well in Samaria, he met a woman. He asked her for a drink and started a conversation. This was not appropriate in Middle Eastern culture, but Jesus was radical and cared about all sections of society, but he didn't care about society's approval.
Jesus explained to her about the water of life, the gift he was offering:
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 v 13-14
This incredible gift of living water is freely available to us today.
Come to Jesus, ask for water and drink.
River of Love - Don Moen
Don Moen is an American song writer, worship leader and pastor, who was born in 1950. River of Love, with its profound lyrics, is a gentle and genuine worship song.