February 2--Thirsty!

Exodus 15:19-17:7 Matthew 22:1-33 Psalm 27:1-6 Proverbs 6:20-26

Thirsty!

“Agua, agua!” I cried out as I ran. I was almost at the end of the 10k/6 mile run. Leaving downtown San Jose, Costa Rica and running up the foothills of the mountain on the edge of town towards Patarrá, I was making good time (for me), just under 7-minute miles. But, it was hot and I was thirsty! Then I saw the place of refuge, a group of smiling volunteers handing out little plastic bags from the table marked “Agua.” I hollered through parched lips because I needed that water. I was too thirsty to climb that mountain and finish the race without it.
In our readings today from Exodus chapters 15 to 17, we encounter very thirsty people! Only three days after the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, after being set free from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites ran out of water and faced a potentially fatal situation. When they finally found water, it was undrinkable. Moses cried out to God and God gave him the idea of throwing a stick in the water to turn it from bitter to sweet. Thirst quenched! (Exodus 15:22-25). Likewise, when God led the people to another spot in the desert where there was no water, the people complained that they would die of thirst. Moses again asked God for help. Again God told Moses how to quench their thirst “I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Srike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink” (Exodus 17:1-7). God provided the water they needed as well as manna for bread and quail for meat—and He did that for 40 years during their desert journey. God is a thirst quencher!
Besides water, there are other things we thirst for—self-esteem, kindness, love, companionship, happiness, a sense of meaning, purpose, destiny, usefulness, material goods, wealth…the list goes on and may change from day to day. Jesus makes this point about thirst and what is of ultimate importance. In John 4:13-14, while speaking to a woman at a well, Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Similarly, in Revelation 21:6, God says, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.”
Our life’s journey is like that run I was making up the mountain in Costa Rica. If we get too thirsty, we may not make it. God created us with thirst mechanisms—when we get hot and dry, we get thirsty. Similarly, God created us with a natural thirst for the “water of life.” We can try to meet that need for Him with other things, but anything but Jesus Christ will leave us “thirsty again.” We must find the water that truly satisfies, the “water of life.” Religions, philosophies, alcohol, drugs, sexual sin, the accumulation of wealth, friendship, entertainment—they all offer some measure of relief from the thirst we have for eternal satisfaction. However, as the people of Israel found in the desert, it takes more than the things of this world to satisfy us. It takes direct, constant personal relationship with God. God made that possible when He sent His son Jesus Christ to this world. God wants us to drink of the water of life and have eternal life through Jesus Christ, and then He wants us to realize the purpose of our lives by leading others to the living water, to Jesus. In other words, God wants us to pray for the thirsty and then be open to His supernatural work through us to quench their eternal thirst.
Let us share the knowledge of this living water with the thirsty around us. May we have spiritual ears to hear their cries for “agua.” May we be like those Jesus mentioned when he said in Matthew 10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Find the thirstiest person or group of people you know and pray for God to help you satisfy their thirst! As in the thirst-satisfying signs that God performed through Moses, as we pray and work with God to satisfy the thirst of those around us, He intervenes supernaturally. We must have our spiritual eyes and ears open to identify the thirsty, those who have not made Jesus their Lord and Savior, those who need healing, those looking for meaning and purpose in their lives, the lonely, the hurting. Then, we must have the faith to believe and expect God to work miracles through us. God will supernaturally heal someone through us, give us just the right words to say, the right book or tract or recording to share with them. God will tell us just how to bless others so they will know that He is the Lord their God. As we partake of and share that living water, thirst will be quenched and we will, with others, finish the race and win the prize, the prize of eternal life.

Pastor Paul