John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all
things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now
there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar,
and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
What do we want out of life? What do we truly desire? What lengths
does humanity take to achieve the happiness that they are searching for? In our
Sunday sermon series, “Prepare Ye the Way”, Pastor JJ prepares our hearts for
Easter with soul searching preaching on the Words of the Lord, Jesus, from the
Cross. He explains that some of our desires are unrealistic, but some are for
basic longings for needs, as hunger and thirst.
Psalm 69:21 “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they
gave me vinegar to drink.”
Why did God give us a physical thirst, where great expense and
effect towards limited, yet necessary commodities, as water? Gods wants us to
depend on physical things in order to show us that God provides, not us. Wanting
us to see how much we really depend upon God Himself; that our basic needs of
life must be met by God. Quenching our thirst and meeting our physical needs,
points to and reminds us of our deep spiritual needs of our heart. We need God because
we only have what God allows us to have. This reality creates a desire from God
for God, our Providence .
Psalm 63:1 “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry
and parched land where there is no water.
Pain is the negative,
which we desire to rid ourselves of. Desire is the absence of something that we
want, that we do not have and feel that we need. By our thirst for the Lord, we
can enter and lean into desire. It is okay to have basic and godly desires, but
not sinful desires as greed, pride, lusts, addictions and the like. Do not
pretend that you do not have them. Unmet desires and unrealistic expectations
can lead to disappointment. Let us thirst for “living water”.
John 4:10, 13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift
of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked
Him, and He would have given you living water.” “Whoever
drinks of this water (from the well) will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall
give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in
him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Have we lost touch with our heart? What we want can lead us in the
wrong directions. What we need are desires that are in line and aligned with
God’s desires and purposes. God wants to us our desires to accomplish great
things. It starts with a thirst which we should submit to Jesus to align with
what He is doing in this world. Do we have a desire for Christ’s atonement? Do
we have a desire to give loving care and compassion to meet the needs of
others?
John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts,
let him come to Me and drink.
Embrace the thirst of Christ’s desires for our life. Cherish our
thirst for Jesus, who meets our needs. Do we desire Him more and more? Do we
thirst for the Word of God? Do we thirst to see our family, friends, neighbors
and acquaintances come to a “saving” knowledge of Jesus Christ? Jesus, from the
Cross said, “I thirst”. What do you thirst for?
Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living
God.”
In Christ, Brian
2 comments:
So true, Brian. What a nice devotional for today. I like the part that says that God gave us thirst. Nowadays everything has a scientific explanation that goes in circular reasoning instead of leading to the understanding that God has provided, not only giving us the true desires of our heart, but also the ability to desire them.
Have a blessed Easter (Passover/resurrection Sunday)
Susan
Thank you Susan for writing. I have been thinking a lot about how this old world is going in our day and age, and it came to me this morning about "the Great Commission". In a nation and world that is creasing losing sight of their providential Creator, especially in this "Holy Week" of Chrit's Passion", where is the "light" shining in the darkness of Sin, ignorance of God and unbelief that is the root of the decay and decline of social and cultural life. I like your wording, "the understanding that God has provided, not only giving us the true desires of our heart, but also the ability to desire them." When on the "wrong" road, make a "u"-turn and go back to the "right" road. May we continue to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and make God known in a lost and dying world. Blessings.
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