Hot and Dry

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. (Isaiah 41:17-18 ESV). For the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of work outside. It has been very hot and dry. After a few hours of yard work, or light construction, I feel as though I am dying of thirst. I often think I could drink a gallon of water without curing that kind of thirst. The Israelites got thirsty. In the wilderness, so far from Egypt, when the temperatures got hot and the days got long, they grumbled for water. God provided for their thirst. He made water come from a rock. Our Lord is a great Provider! In today's reading, however, God is speaking of a different thirst. He's not talking about the natural thirst our body has when we lack the proper amount of liquid. He is talking about the thirst within us for the things of God. Within each of us, regardless of our beliefs, there is a thirst, a hunger, to know God. It is a God-sized void in our life that only He can quench. This world is searching. It is searching for answers to crimes involving children. It is searching for answers to the rise in marriages which end in divorce. It is searching for reasons for teen suicides, disease epidemics and chronic depression. The world is striving for real leadership; real answers to real problems. Folks, the answer is Jesus. God has provided us with Living Water, designed especially for us so that we may quench the thirst within us. Maybe today you don't have some of the deep questions on your heart that are listed above, but you do have questions about the things in your life that don't seem to make sense. The Living Water is for you, too! Drink from the well! Call on Jesus and make Him the biggest and best part of your life. Ask Him to "water you down" with His mercy and grace and saturate you with the love that can be found only in Him.