Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Thirsty no more

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Exodus 17:5-7
The Lord said to Moses, "Go over there in front of the people, along with some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the river.

"I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink."

This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel. The place was called Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD in our midst or not?"

John 4:13-16
Jesus said to the woman at the well, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."

Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back."

But she had no husband. She'd had five husbands. And the man she lived with now was not her husband. Jesus knew all of this. He knew all the husbands in the world wouldn't satisfy this woman's thirst. And neither would all the water in the well.

Centuries earlier the Israelites were thirsty and blaming God for everything. Centuries later I do the same thing. Yesterday I was sore and sick, and if I felt that way day after day I know how hard it would be to pray with gratitude, pray without ceasing.

Or would it? Jesus' promise is a real one:

Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

The woman didn't understand him: "Yea! I won't have to walk to the well anymore!" That's not what he meant. But as soon as her water ran out, she would not just question Jesus; she'd feel betrayed by him.

Is there anything more precious than water? Ask the Israelites; they apparently didn't think so. Ask Esau when he was famished: was anything more precious than a bowl of soup? Not even his birthright? When my physical life is threatened, what gets into me?

God knows my trouble. He understands my plight. I know about death. Physical death has been a problem for us since almost the beginning. The chasm between "life" and "death" seems so vast, and we see so little of what is over there on the "death" side.

Jesus' words ... "never" thirst ... "water welling up to eternal life" ... must be metaphors. Since I am captive to the earth, with physical death a certainty, the truth of what he says eludes me. I keep thinking I'll be protected physically. And that's not what he means at all.

His words give me wings to leap across the chasm. He invites me to open up a different set of eyes and see what he sees on the other side of death. Jesus tells me over and over, "Do not be afraid." Lean on me, let me lead you, listen to me. Listen only to me.

Living with you forever, Lord. It's your promise, your invitation, your word. Open up my eyes and let me see what you see.

Devotions Archive

Thirsty no more

Sunday, February 24, 2008