A Thirst for God

Psalm 42:1 ~ "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God."

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do you long for God? 

Here, on this most rare of days--February 29th--a day that only comes through the calendar once every four years, let this be the day that you, again, rekindle a desire for the LORD. The very next verse rings out with the longing of the Christian heart, "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?"

And yet, very much like a rare day on the calendar, I fear that it is the rare heart that has such an unquenchable thirst for God that nothing can ever satisfy except the Lord, Himself. We walk through this world like we walk through an arid and parched land, thirsting for the Living Water--the Lord Jesus. The world has nothing to offer. The best of mankind in its futile ability to strive for goodness falls far short of satiating the thirst of the Believer. It is the cry of the psalmist in Psalm 63:1, "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

We live in days where there is a dearth of the flowing streams of God. The Almighty warned us of this in Amos 8:11, "'Behold, the days are coming,' declares the LORD God, 'when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.'" And if we were to listen to the modern voices that fill the air, very rarely is the truth of God honored or spoken. We are in a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.

But there are streams in this desert. Like an oasis in the Sahara, there are outposts of truth and streams of life flowing from Christ through His servants who faithfully proclaim the word of God. It may be rare, but they are like an overflowing stream. Jesus said this in John 7:38, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" And, my friends, if you are in such a place where the truth of Christ is faithfully proclaimed, rejoice that you can drink freely of the living word. 

But there are many who have no thirst for God. They gather around a myriad of other fountains that deliver only a false satisfaction, one that is agreeable to their earthly desires. Paul warned Timothy of this in 2 Timothy 4:3, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions." They have no appetite for truth, but only those things that are comfortable and convenient. 

But I trust that it is not so with you, dear reader. If you are born again, then you are like that deer which pants for the streams of water--you have a thirst for the Living God. Your heart longs to be with Him, to drink deeply of the water of life flowing from the throne of God (see Revelation 22:1). And though you are still wandering in this arid promontory of earth, there are streams in this desert where you can find your thirst for God quenched. They may be rare, but in Christ they will never run dry.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

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