Thirst

I never realized how the subject of THIRST runs through the New Testament the way it does until someone pointed it out to me recently. Of course, I was already aware of John chapter 4 about the story of Jesus and the woman at the well:

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be THIRSTY again,  but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be THIRSTY again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:7‭-‬14‭, ‬24 ESV)

But I never really took notice that the moment Jesus was about to take His last breath on the cross, He said this about THIRST:

Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scriptures Ps 22:15 and Ps 69:21), “I THIRST.”  A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. (John 19:28‭-‬30 ESV)

Also, I never really took notice that contained within the very last verses of the very last chapter of the Bible it says this about THIRST:

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is THIRSTY come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Revelation 22:17 ESV)

As I looked deeper into the Book of Revelation, I found three other verses dealing with THIRST that is only quenched by the living spiritual water of life that is limitless and offered freely and can only be found in Jesus:

They shall hunger no more, neither THIRST anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:16‭-‬17 ESV)

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the THIRSTY I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. (Revelation 21:6 ESV)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1 ESV)

Even going back to the Old Testament, Ezekiel gives us a glimpse of how our spiritual THIRST can be forever quenched. Whether a literal or figurative Temple, Ezekiel’s future vision tells of a limitless river of living water:

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. (Ezekiel 47:1‭-‬5 ESV)

Every human being who has ever lived has two kinds of THIRST. First, there is a physical THIRST. You cannot live long without water. Your physical body is made up of a large percentage of water. Second, there is a spiritual THIRST. Every human being has it built within them, but not everyone seeks to have this THIRST satisfied. Even though this spiritual THIRST is far more important than a physical THIRST, many people put off quenching their spiritual THIRST until it is too late and death has occurred. Don’t let this happen to you!

I will leave you with the following two portions of Scripture. The first is how only Jesus can satisfy spiritual THIRST. The second is what happens when the living water that only Jesus can offer is not feasted upon. Come and drink of it before it is too late!

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone THIRSTS, let him come to Me and drink.  Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'”  Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37‭-‬39 ESV)

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.’ ” (Luke 16:19‭-‬25 ESV)