a lie about thirst

What am I thirsty for? Do I even know the answer to that question? This is what is plaguing me and burdening my heart not only for myself, but also for my brothers and sisters in Christ and for those outside of God's family. This is probably one of the most unrecognized deceptions we fall prey to. As we move forward in the conversation between Jesus and the woman from Sychar, this deception surfaces. Jesus has offered her a drink of living water, and her response is, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw." She is still unaware of her true thirst. The next statement by Jesus, at first glance, seems disconnected. But I would propose that Jesus very intentionally is opening the curtain on her true thirst. "He said to her, 'Go, call your husband, and come here.' The woman answered and said, 'I have no husband.' Jesus said to her, 'You have well said, "I have no husband"; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband;" The woman asks for water to satisfy her physical thirst, but Jesus offers so much more than that. I'm convinced that I/we often fall into this same deception. We think God wants to merely satisfy some physical longing. Jesus opens the door of invitation when He tells her to call her husband. He knows that her lifestyle has been one of striving to satisfy her thirst outside of relationship with God. She was unaware that her thirst would never be satisfied until she recognized that what she really needed was that relationship.

This brings me to another lie about thirst I'm becoming aware of. Ps. 63:1 says, "My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." The Psalmist understood that apart from God, he was living in a desert. And we all in some form are living in a desert. Do I recognize the desert I'm in? Too often, like the Samaritan woman, I'm preoccupied with my own ideas of thirst, and I fail to see that those things I am pursuing will not and cannot satisfy. Only God can quench the thirsting of my soul. Even those yearnings of the flesh can only be satisfied by God.

Am I willing to examine my life? Will I let Jesus draw back the curtain and expose my thirst and the activities or people I'm using to try and satisfy what only He can? This calls for courage and vulnerability. Would you join me?