We are all dependent beings, who find in nature everything we need to satisfy our bodies’ needs.
As a biology student at university, I was constantly awed by the overwhelming complexity and interrelatedness of living beings. It is easy for us to discover what these are, because God has placed within us amazing feedback systems that continually inform us of our needs in ways we cannot ignore: we thirst, we hunger, we yawn...
However, sometimes, when my body thirsts, I give it a poor choice of liquid. Sometimes, when my body is hungry, I give it a poor choice of food. Sometimes, when my body is tired, I force it to keep going, despite the fatigue, by downing coffee. I weaken and become ill because I turn to sources that cannot satisfy my body’s legitimate needs.
In the same way, when my soul cries out its thirst, I sometimes turn to the wrong means in hopes of satisfying it, only to see my spirit weaken and sicken. Its thirst and hunger only become stronger than ever before.
God cries out to me, inviting me to abandon poor substitutes and come to the living water he alone can provide.
“Why put so much time and energy into gaining what can never quench my deepest thirst and so little into what can — a deep and quiet receiving of God’s word, a spiritual milk that causes me to grow up in my salvation (1 Peter 2:2)?”
What are you hungry and thirsty for? Where will you find your satisfaction for your needs?
Oh Lord, I am soul thirsty — so soul thirsty. And so I come to you for the only water that will quench this soul thirst. Teach me to truly listen — to truly turn to you with my whole heart and receive from you all I need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:1-4). For you alone can satisfy the deep yearnings of my heart. Amen.
Ask Yourself: When you feel soul thirsty will you turn to God to drink deeply from His Word, rather than to paltry substitutes?