Scripture describes our need for God as thirsting for water. For instance consider Psalm 63:1:
O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Note this is David crying out to God and saying he shall seek God. In seeking God David is driven by his soul thirsting for God.
Consider also Psalm 42:1-2:
As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul [c]pants for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and [d]appear before God?
Again we see the theme of thirsting for God.
We need God. Yet many people even Christians often don’t feel they need God on a practical basis. Why is that?
I think with the water and thirst motif we can also consider the analogy a little further.
In a physical biological sense we need water to live and survive. Yet often we don’t drink as much water as we should. There’s an article that I found illuminating:
There is also evidence that the types of foods we tend to eat today affect our thirst mechanism, making it less reliable as a cue to drink. A 2009 study by Australian scientists reported that subjects who included more high-fat and high-sugar foods in their diet exhibited weaker thirst sensitivity than did those who ate fewer of these foods.
Apparently from this article the point made is that what we eat as our diet will affect the reliability of our body recognizing its need to drink water. The more high fat and the more high sugar intake the less sensitive is one’s body to alert the individual his or her need for water by experiencing thirst.
Yet in so many ways in the spiritual level that is what’s going on as well.
We consume so much junk food spiritually speaking, things that distract us from a healthy relationship with God that often is a substitute for quick appeal to the appetite with no deeper consideration of its impact on our being. That in turn desensitize our ability to be aware of our thirst for God.
If you notice you don’t desire to seek God you might ask the question prayerfully to God whether your consumption of what you read and watch has become spiritual junk food that has dull your healthy thirst for God. Pray not just to find out but also pray to God for Him to change your heart to thirst for Him! Then feast on God’s Word and taste the goodness of the Lord! Keep on going deeper into God’s Word until you find it sweet to you; keep on meditating and digging into Scripture until its like honey, where it is sweet and has healing property in your life.
What a powerful way to start my day. Thanks for the insight. I am thirsty!
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Thank you for the reblog!
Yankee Whiskey Bravo
Reblogged this on Lee Duigon.
Excellent
Sometimes people aren’t just consuming spiritual junk food but spiritual drugs that dulls them to God and everything
So True, sometimes the blogging scene can be a bad substitute for prayer and bible study. Thanks for the reminder
You’re welcome and thank you for reading this. Your comment is quite true for us who blog, may it never be a substitute to reading the Word and actually praying to God. How are you doing brother?
Doing really good, thanks Jim. Hope you are as well.
I love that you used a picture of a waterfall called “Devil’s Cauldron” for this post.
Amen Pastor Jim.:)
Amen! I hope you have a blessed Saturday today down in Louisiana!
Blessings to you and yours.:)
JIm, the Lord has truly spoken through you to heighten our hunger and thirst for Him. Blessings as you feed your flock tomorrow.
According to “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water” (Batmangeldi), a person who is dehydrated can actually feel less thirsty, because dehydration affects the thirst center in the brain. Again, the spiritual applications are clear. Keep drinking the Living Water, or you could become unaware of how much you need it!
On another subject – where was the picture taken? It’s beautiful!
Thank you for your sharing your thoughts, I appreciate it very much. I think there’s a principle it seems true in life: Those who need to drink water most are probably those who don’t know they are thirsty and then there’s a phenomenon where those that know the least about something are often those that don’t know how little they know and overinflate how much they know. How we need God’s grace to see ourselves for who we truly are, and that require humility that is cultivated through the fruit of the Spirit. By the way the name of the location of the picture is somewhat ironic but its called devil’s cauldron in Ecuador. God bless you brother, hope you have a blessed day today and are you looking forward to the Lord’s Day tomorrow?
Good analogies, brother! This also brings to mind how mega-churches substitute light shows and smoke machines for God’s Word.
Yeah many (not all) mega churches dog and pony show with lights and smokes and mirrors with cotton candy theology are often the spiritual junk food people consume unfortunately. I imagine you had a busy today and got to get on the blog later during the day? I know I did and did some stuff with church and finally got to sit down but gotta pick up a late lunch and write the review I’ve been talking about! Looking forward to Sunday?
Yup, very busy today doing some things I had put off for a long time. Yes, we are looking forward to church tomorrow. We actually did not attend the last four Sundays because we didn’t agree with the “sermon” series that was being presented. The church is pushing a new building program and was strong-arming everyone the last four weeks. It was suggested to “Sell some of your valuables” and even “Get a second job for a couple of years and donate the money.” Outright coercion. I’m not a fan of building programs. The public school facilities that are currently rented for Sunday worship are fine, and people should give as the Lord leads, not by coercion. Sorry. I don’t like to see these high-pressure tactics used at church. Anyway, I hope you have a blessed Sunday tomorrow!
There is a lot to this post that could be explored. Do we thirst for God? A better question: do we hunger for righteousness? Do we mourn our own sin? Do we find ourselves poor in Spirit?
We are truly blessed when we do. I’m reading Elijah by A.W. Pink, and he made the point that the more prosperous a nation becomes, the less of a need the nation has for God. This is in the context of Elijah having to live on the leftovers in a widow’s household. God took him off the field for three years, in order to train him more for the work to come. In the absence of ministry, prosperity, God really worked.
Hard lesson, but one that is so necessary.
Amazing how we can be dehydrated and not even feel like we’re thirsty. Likewise, we can be in desperate need of God’s Presence and not even know it.
Yeah it’s crazy to see the physical parallels to this spiritual truth isn’t it?
It sure is!
Sometimes we are driven by fear to maintain control and don’t surrender to God when we should. That fear I believe is fed by what we consume daily (media, internet, etc.).
Good point and convicting Greg
[…] last month I wrote a post titled “Do you realize your thirst for God?” I want to write this as a follow up post since I believe the sign of someone thirsting for […]
Excellent analogy…
God bless you
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