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An Invitation to the Thirsty

 

I have spent much of my life in pursuit. As a little child, I sought to please in pursuit of praise. As a teen, I tried to conform in pursuit of acceptance. As an adult, I vainly strove for perfection in an attempt to earn both, not realizing that what I was truly after was the virtue I believed praise and acceptance demonstrated: love.

The pursuit of love lies at the heart of all man’s striving. God’s Word teaches in Proverbs 19:22, “What a man desires is unfailing love.” At the core of our beings, driving all our decisions, pursuits and dreams, rests a longing, woven into the fabric of our souls by the hand of the Creator. Left unfulfilled, this longing evokes a restlessness that robs our peace as it sends us in search of the One who can quench its thirst.

Unfortunately for us, God isn’t the only being weaving desires into the depths of our souls. A veil of sin, expertly crafted by the hands of the Deceiver, obscures our vision of the only source capable of satiating our thirst for love: God, Himself.

Seeking to steal God’s glory for his own, the Prince of this World draws our gaze to the trophies of this realm with unrelenting tenacity. Human relationships, wealth, knowledge, and power beckon our pursuit, promising to satisfy our need.  We set our hearts on possessing them, striving after the fulfillment we believe they will bring. Occasionally we even grab hold of them and experience a rush of momentary pleasure!  But our victory proves itself fleeting, and is invariably followed by an emptiness that sends us out in pursuit once more.

Allow your Creator to show you the reason for this perpetual cycle of unsatisfied expectation:

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13

Dear one, the trophies of this world—the wealth and power, even the people through whom we hope to find the safety of love—are broken cisterns. They simply cannot satisfy. We find ourselves unable to draw from them the life-giving refreshment we crave because they, themselves, are empty. To experience the fullness of life, we must draw directly from its Giver.

I am awed by the love of God poured out to the broken people of this world through His Son, Jesus. Knowing we could not find Him through the enemy’s veil of sin, Jesus came to the earth in pursuit of us! And as He stretched out His arms on a cross:

 

“. . . darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out in a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.  When he had said this, he breathed his last.” Luke 23:44-46

 

One terrible afternoon, as Jesus took the sins of all mankind upon Himself, the Son stopped shining, and creation reflected His loss. His sacrifice split the veil that had separated man from the Presence of God from top to bottom. And after He had breathed His last, the Son rose once more, bringing with Him the opportunity for all who would believe on Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to pass through the veil He had torn.

The True Light that gives light to every man (John 1:9) beckons your approach. He speaks to you the same words uttered centuries ago to a thirsty woman at a well who was trying to draw water from a broken cistern,

“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water . . . Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:10, 13-14

Thirteen years ago, I met Jesus at my own well. I didn’t even realize at the time how incredibly empty and broken I was, until I responded to His tug at my heart and chose to open it to His love.

Jesus’ love has so profoundly transformed my life that I desperately desire to lead you to the spring so you also may drink in its life. My prayer is that if you have not met Jesus personally, I may have the humble privilege of introducing you to Him. If you know Him, but haven’t yet learned how to love Him and drink from the life-giving flow of His Spirit, may our journeys together through His Word empower you to embrace all that He died to give you.

I hope you will join me in seeking to draw from the One True well. If you’d like to partake, I’ll meet you here on Wednesdays. Until then, know Jesus loves you.

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