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“After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said, I am thirsty.” (John 19:28); “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” (Isaiah 55:1)
We all know the importance of water. Water is essential to our good health. Are you getting enough water daily? Water gets rid of wastes and keeps our temperature normal. If we're thirsty, we're already mildly dehydrated, and that can cause symptoms like headache, fatigue, dizziness and more. So, we need to drink water, at least 8 cups of water a day. The same is true for spiritual life.
I had been thirsty. I didn’t realize how much I was thirsty. About 20 years ago I attended a rich and powerful Ignatian Spiritual Practice in New York. Ten days of a retreat challenged and inspired me. But when I returned home, I continued on with life as it was. Yet, words, insights, and phrases have stayed with me. Especially Augustine’s prayer: “Too late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside myself, and there I sought you! You were with me, and I was not with you. I long for you. I hunger and thirst for you.”
Thirst. We thirst. God thirsts. Jesus thirsts. Thirst is everywhere. Israelites thirst for water in the wilderness. The psalmist thirsts for the living God. In Isaiah, the land itself is thirsty. In Amos, God thirsts for justice; God thirsts for justice to roll down like water. In Matthew, Jesus thirsts for righteousness and commands us to give something to drink to the least of these. In John, it is the Samaritan woman who thirsts for the spring of water gushing up to eternal life.
There is only one thing that can satisfy our thirst- the living God, the wellspring whose waters never fail. Let us admit and recognize just how thirsty we are and allow God to fill us with the waters that never fail. “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, for he is my help and my God.” (Psalms 42:5)
Pastor Seok-Hwan
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