on Thirst

I had the flu this weekend. There is little in life I hate more than throwing up, but almost worse than that is the thirst. The dangerous part of the flu is dehydration, which I got to experience, but, thanks to God's grace and my wife's care, not to a dangerous level. The problem of course was that I couldn't drink much, because I couldn't keep it down. So, instead, I had to endure the thirst. It made me think of this verse:

"On the last, and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.'" John 7:37

No one in the crowd should have been physically thirsty. It was the last day of a multi-day feast. People had been eating and drinking as much as they could manage for several days. There was no reason for anyone to need anything more, yet Jesus says, "If anyone is thirsty..."

Jesus describes himself several times in scripture as "living water," He tells people that if they drink of him, that they will never again thirst. By this he means spiritual thirst, not the physical sort I was enjoying. In that context though, I was thinking about Jesus choice of that metaphor, when I was so thirsty, there was nothing that occupied my mind so much as the thought of drinking a glass of cool, clear water. I couldn't stop thinking about it, I was consumed by it. In the same way, I think, Jesus is pointing out to a thirsty world that even though they don't realize what they want, they're looking for Him. This morning, with my breakfast, I drank several cool, delicious glasses of water. They were wonderful. Sitting on my table, illuminated by the sunlight coming in through the front window, the water looked beautiful. I think that's how Jesus wants us to see Him. That He is able to quench our thirst, that He is pleasing to the eye, and good for the body. Better yet, unlike the religions that the world offers, He is alive, and once you've had Him, you'll never want for anything else again.

Speaking of which, I'm off to have another glass of water.