Are You Thirsty?

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isaiah 55:1

Have you ever been thirsty? I'm not talking about the mild thirst you have when it's been two hours since you had anything to drink. I'm talking about the kind of thirst you have when you've been outside working all day and forgot to bring some water with you. I remember being really thirsty once.

A friend of mine and I decided one day to go to a local state park for a short hike. We had all day, but were only thinking about being out for an hour or so. When we arrived at the entrance to the hiking trails, we found a sign that marked out three trails. The first was about 3/4 of a mile (a one hour hike). I don't remember the length of the second, but the third hike was 1.5 miles. The sign said the hike would take 4 hours.

I laughed when I read the sign. Four hours? The other trail said it would take one hour, and I'd hiked it many times, it never took more than 30 minutes. "That sign must be wrong," I said. "How could it take four hours to hike 1.5 miles?" We opted for the longer trail.

We took off at a comfortable pace making great time. We rounded a bend and suddenly the trail got steeper and steeper and steeper. It looked like it was going straight up. Our quick pace soon slowed down to a serious crawl. The day grew warmer and the hike seemed to never come to an end. We stopped several times to catch our breath. By the time we reached the summit (yes, the trail was up the side of a small mountain), we were hot, sweaty and very thirsty. Two and a half hours had passed, and we still had to go back down. As we neared the end of the trail, we came to a mossy spot on a rock that looked out over the mountains. The view was breath-taking, but we could not enjoy it. We sat down to rest trying not to think of how thirsty we were.

Just then some hikers turned the corner and one of them called out my name. I couldn't believe it. There stood a friend of mine and her boyfriend. She immediately assessed our situation and asked, "Didn't you bring any food or water?" "No," I replied, a little embarrassed. She then opened up her back pack and pulled out two bottles of water and some snacks. "Here" she said, "I brought extras. We don't need them." It didn't take us long to finish off the water. It was one of the best drinks of water I've ever had.

I've experienced another type of thirst that can't be quenched with water. It was not a physical thirst, but an inner thirst, a longing to know God. No bottle of water could quench that thirst.

John's Gospel tells us that one day Jesus went to the well at Samaria. When He was there, He met a woman who was drawing water from the well. He told her that He could offer living water. If she drank it, she would never thirst again. He was speaking to her of the water of life that only God can give.

Are you thirsty in your soul? Isaiah says, "Come everyone who is thirsty. Come to the waters" Drink and live. If you are thirsty, come. If you long to know God, come. He will quench the thirst you feel.

On the day we hiked up the mountain, our thirst was temporarily quenched. We hiked back down the mountain (It did take an entire 4 hours to complete the hike.), and by the time we reached the bottom, we were thirsty again. God quenched my inner thirst, and it is for eternity.