Drinking freely

And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. – Revelation 22v17

I don’t think I have ever truly been thirsty. I have probably said before, ‘I am dying of thirst,’ but I doubt that I have ever truly been really thirsty. When you read about being truly thirsty it is a terrible thing, After the dry, cottony mouth that we have all experienced comes fatigue and fevers or chills. The lips and tongues swell and crack. Our bodies depend on water so they begin to rob it wherever it can be found in our systems causing severe pain. Thirst kills quickly. After only 3-4 days with no water, we die.

Now wonder that the Bible so often speaks of water, thirst, and quenching that thirst. Most of us in the modern western world have no concept of how important water was to the people in Bible times. We go to the tap, turn on the cold water, and there it is. Some folks go to the door of their fridge and stick the glass and it fills up with water and ice. In some places we don’t even have to pay for water. In the last few years it has become the in thing for everyone to carry their bottle of water with them wherever they go, even into church. We just don’t get this thirst thing.

I remember a day years ago when I was working in heating and air conditioning in Alabama. It was August and it was hot! I was working in an attack where the temperature was about 60C (140F). We knew to work in 10 minute shifts in that heat, but I only had a little more to do, so I told the guy I was working with to go ahead and work on something else and I would be right out. Right after that I stopped sweating. My body was thirsty and needed that water. My own internal ‘air conditioner’ shut down. I was dizzy and disorientated. My head and my stomach ached. Somehow I made my way to the ladder going into the attic and stumbled down. There was a bathroom down the hall so I literally crawled there. I could not stand to the sink, and all they had were tiny little children’s paper cups. I filled and drank and filled ands drank and filled and drank. Finally I made my way outside and rested under a shade tree until my body could recover.

I had a taste that day of what it meant to be thirsty, but thankfully I had a solution. I can’t imagine being thirsty and having no water, or even being rationed to one of those tiny kiddie paper cups of water.

Thirst was a part of life for most people in Jesus’ day. A good part of their lives was spent in a struggle similar to mine for those few moments, but theirs went on day after day after day. They saw the picture that we can miss.

Saying that, there are times in our lives when we experience a spiritual thirst. A crisis comes along that shakes us and our confidence. We can’t seem to get an answer from God. We are dry and parched and we craving something from God to refresh us. Finally, the answer comes and we are able to move on.

On the new heaven and new earth there will be no more spiritual thirst. Every day we will be vibrant, renewed, and refreshed. The water will flow freely and we will indeed never thirst again.