Thirsty For the Word

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“I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.” Psalm 119:130

Remember the last time you were desperate for a drink of water? Maybe you were so busy you had forgotten to hydrate or couldn’t grab an opportunity for a good, long drink. Or maybe you had been working or exercising outside when the need for a drink could no longer be ignored. For whatever reason, you got dehydrated and your mouth turned to cotton. All of a sudden, you couldn’t think of anything besides quenching your thirst.

We can get dehydrated spiritually as well, and while water quenches our physical thirst, our souls and spirits need to drink from God’s Word to stay alive and thrive. God has the words of life we need. In speaking of God’s words, Moses said to the Israelites, “They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.” (Deuteronomy 32:27a)

The Psalmist said, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1-2) Friends, we can meet with God anytime. And one of the places we can meet him is in his Word. Yes, his word can quench our thirst.

So the question is do we long for the Word of God? As daily demands and trials of life come our way and sap our strength, do we turn to God and his Word to be refreshed and rejuvenated? Where do we go when we find ourselves spiritually dehydrated? Do we pant for the Word and set others things aside so we can go and drink from it?  

Unfortunately, we sometimes neglect God’s Word. We allow the daily demands of life—as well as our desires—to squeeze out the time desperately needed to refresh our spirits and nourish our souls in the Word of God. Other times we neglect turning to the Bible because it might shine a light on the sin we don’t want to forsake. We stay away from the conviction and correction God might speak to our hearts through it.

Also, because God’s Word is so readily available to us here in our nation, we may even take it for granted. We don’t realize the awesome privilege we have of freely drinking from it whenever we want to.

Eventually, if we neglect the Word long enough, we may lose our thirst for it as we allow other things to become substitutes that ease our thirst temporarily but never really satisfy our souls and spirits completely the way God’s Word does.

There is hope, though, if we find we’ve let our thirst and longing for the Word wane. We need only open its pages again and begin drinking. As the Word of God touches those dry and needy places in us again, our thirst for more of it will grow. We will find ourselves panting for the Word of God each day. We will eagerly drink and quench our thirst with God’s words—the words that are life to us.

So how about it? Let’s thrive with the Word of God. Let’s live!

“ . . . ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68

*How thirsty are you for God’s Word today?

*Flickr photo by Vicki Francis/Department for International Development, Creative Commons License

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, will come out in early May. Sign-up is free and to the right!

Comments

  1. savvygranny says

    You have no idea how timely is this post this morning. While I never get too far from God’s word, there are times in my life when I’ve been far more intentional than I’ve been in recent months. Nothing like a refreshing gulp unlike anything else.

    • Kathleen, so very glad this came at the right time for you today. What a blessing to hear. Thanks for letting me know. Enjoy those refreshing gulps from the Word of God!

    • So you’re savvy now on top of being sassy?

      • savvygranny says

        Way back … long before my Sassy Granny personna took shape, I toyed with “savvy”. I have no clue how it morphed into a User Name here, though. I kinda like the sound of it, even though I’m not so sure there’s a true savvy in me (big cheesy grin).

  2. God’s Word is a fount of living water – the very life I breathe. Whenever I get thirsty, even when I’m well watered, I can count on the scriptures to quench my thirst.

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