ARE YOU THIRSTY?

“And Jesus said, "Come to the water, stand by My side, I know you are thirsty, you won't be denied…”

These are words from a hymn popular in the 1970s called, “For Those Tears I Died.” I found myself humming the tune earlier this week.  I remember the first time I heard it.  It was at a Bible study in someone’s home and a young evangelist Luis Palau (now known worldwide) was the guest speaker that day. 

As much as I love the words of the whole piece, I’ve had a hard time relating to “I know you are thirsty…”  Maybe it is because I was raised and lived in water soaked Oregon for so many years. In those days, we got a lot of rain, beginning in November until after the fourth of July. 

On a different note that may seem unrelated: Yesterday during a fellowship gathering, I heard a definition of the word “heart,” an explanation of which has always eluded me.  Someone said, ”The heart is where our desires reside.” In a flash, I understood the word “thirsty.” 

As I read these scriptures, I can imagine a thirsty heart reaching out for God:

Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble (Ps. 10:17a)

You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing (Ps. 145:16).

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart (Ps. 37:4).

I use to ask God to shape my desires to be in agreement with His desires, but I have found a better way. Instead, I pray that God will work in my heart so that I only want what God desires. Anything less will not satisfy and nothing else will quench my thirst. 

Jesus said, “…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” (John 4:14).