So Subdued by Thirst
You have the Christmas wish list of a family member in your pocket as you head to the shopping mall. You’ve never heard of the particular item circled in red on their list, but you assume it will be easily located and within your budget. You plan to only spend as much time navigating the mall madness as is needed. It’s simple… you’ll check out one or two stores, find the gift for the best price, grab a peppermint latte at the coffee shop, then head for the peace and quiet of home; a holiday Hallmark movie begins in two hours.
But soon you find out that your well laid out plan has changed as you go from store to store, only to be told either it is out of stock or they don’t carry it. You leave that mall and head to the one across town, only to be told the same thing. Frustrated, you stomp to the mall’s food court, find the only empty table, plop down in a huff, and check for the item online. Still no luck, then for a second you consider buying them something else, but no way, you are bound and determined to keep looking until you find this item no matter what it takes or what it costs.
Now let me ask you, how fervently do you pursue God? Do you regularly and actively pursue Him like your life depended upon it? Or do you just casually seek after Him, and if you happen to bump into Him great, if not, well, you will look some more tomorrow.
Unlike that elusive gift that you might never find, God promises us if we seek Him with all our heart that we will encounter Him. We read these words in Deuteronomy 4:29 – “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” This relentless pursuit is a common theme throughout scripture; for three examples check out 1 Chronicles 22:19, Psalm 63:1, and Proverbs 8:17.
And another beautiful picture of what it looks like to pursue God with all your heart and soul is found in Psalm 42, verses 1 and 2. You might be familiar with these verses – “As the dear pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. Where can I go and meet with God?”
The Hebrew word used here for “pant” implies a fervency of desire. The deer is absolutely in need of a drink, nothing is more important at that moment. If you have ever been near a deer you know how quickly they flee when you approach them. William McClure Thomson was an American missionary working in Ottoman Syria in the 1800s. In his book, The Land and the Book, Thomson says in regards to this fervent desire for water; “I have seen large flocks of these panting harts (male red deer, native to Syria) gather round the water-brooks in the great deserts of central Syria, so subdued by thirst that you could approach quite near them before they fled.”
So, I ask you, how thirsty are you? Is your soul panting for God? Are you gathered around the water-brook so subdued (overcome) by your thirst that nothing distracts you from drinking?
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