My whole body longs for you in this parched and thirsty land.
After living in Massachusetts where it snows all winter and rains all summer, I’ve forgotten what it was like to live in Southern California which is semi-arid. But I’m starting to remember now. It’s been over a month since it rained and it’s been in the nineties all that time. My grass is dry and my flowers are droopy. I have to water every night. I think about the cost of water, but it’s necessary if I don’t’ want my plants to die.
Sometimes I feel like I’m in a drought too. I need to soak up Jesus, the Living Water every day. One of my favorite passages to meditate on when I feel dry is John 14:1-3.
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
But even while I soak up His love, I should ponder the cost. I should remember that Jesus’ love brought Him to the cross.
Jesus also satisfies me better than the richest feast. When I eat junk food, I’m only satisfied for as long as I’m eating it. When I eat fruit, I’m satisfied for a little while and I know it’s nourishing me. When I eat a good meal I’m satisfied longer, but eventually I have to eat again. Jesus is better than the good meal, He satisfies completely and continually. I can draw on that by praising Him continually.
And Jesus is there when I lie awake. I had pretty bad insomnia last night. I lay awake and then got up, then lay awake, then got up. It’s a good opportunity to think about God, undistracted by anything except a tired fog. I prayed for a couple of people. I read an article in Christianity Today and pondered it. But I should have meditated on God. How much better to use that time to draw closer to Him and let Him satisfy me, even in the fog.
The more I think about God, and the more I praise God, the more satisfied I will be. I won’t be thirsty, hungry or tired.
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