What Quenches Your Thirst?
Lately I have been scatterbrained, and not long ago, I misplaced my cell phone. To be honest, that is a common occurrence for me. I tore our house apart, fervently looking for my phone. Nothing else really mattered in those moments, nothing other than finding my phone. I even looked in places I had already looked, as if the phone would magically appear. Finally, I found my phone exactly where I laid it down. Imagine that!
To help, I now have a Bluetooth tracking device on my key ring that rings my cell phone when I cannot find it. And I can also use my cell phone to find my keys.
Have you ever lost or misplaced something and then spend minutes, hours, maybe even days, looking for it, pouring every ounce of energy into finding it? Or am I the only one who regularly misplaces things?
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.
Sometimes, no matter how much time and energy we put into finding something (or someone), we never find it. On the other hand, 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. Here are just two examples found in the Old Testament – Psalm 63:1, 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 deer 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 describes this fervent desire for water; “I have seen large flocks of these panting harts 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.” (A hart is a male red deer, the species of deer that would be native to Syria.)
Researchers have found that deer have an internal compass that is sensitive to magnetic fields, and they run in a north-south orientation when threatened. This north-south movement is thought to help deer avoid colliding with one another and enhance their ability to reassemble once the threat is over.
Whether your soul is dry and parched from exhaustion and constant running or if you are just in need of a cool refreshing drink of water, today I encourage you to seek God with all your heart, and not only will you find Him, but you will also drink from His well of living water, water that will quench your thirst today, tomorrow, and every day after that. Jesus discussed this idea of living water with a woman he encountered at a well. Read that story, found in John’s Gospel, by clicking here.
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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