As a kid, I loved neighborhood football games with my friends. We\u2019d all dress up in our pads, donning our favorite team\u2019s helmet. Mine was a white Baltimore Colt helmet, with royal blue horseshoes painted above the ear holes and Johnny Unitas\u2019 number 19 on the back.<\/p>\n
When I ride by our old neighborhood today, the friend\u2019s yard we played in looks so small. However, we wore ourselves out chasing each other up and down the field in the heat of many a South Carolina afternoon. And, on the rare occasion when it snowed, we\u2019d play smear the man with the ball.<\/p>\n
At \u201chalf time\u201d and at the end of the game we\u2019d all line up to guzzle water from the garden hose attached to my friend\u2019s house. To this day, the satisfaction of quenching my dry, parched throat with what seemed like gallons of gushing, cool water, is still etched in my memory.<\/p>\n
Now that I think back on it, the water probably wasn\u2019t that cold, but we relished the refreshing running water.<\/p>\n
We were thirsty.<\/p>\n
Addressing thirst, Jesus once said, \u201cIf any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, \u2018From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37b-38<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Whether we realize it or not, we were created with a longing for more, a deep thirst.<\/p>\n The wisest man in the world once wrote that God \u00a0put eternity in the hearts of men.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n The plan is for our great thirst to be quenched by God himself, but so many of us have filled our lives with so much crap, we don’t even know we’re thirsty.<\/p>\n Perhaps that\u2019s why Jesus said, \u201cif\u201d any man is thirsty.<\/p>\n If we\u2019ve crammed our lives with possessions, achievements, pleasures, popularity and other earthly treasures, we may not even know we need Jesus.<\/p>\n However, nothing but Jesus comes close to satisfying our hearts.<\/p>\n When we realize this, we can move past the “if”.<\/p>\n Jesus invites us to\u00a0“come and drink”<\/span>.<\/p>\n Jesus wants us to recognize his presence and to draw near to him. He wants us to drink deeply and quench our thirst with his great love. He doesn\u2019t want our lives to be filled with arduous self-effort, he wants our lives to be filled with him.\u00a0When this is true, we can live lives of overflow.<\/p>\n Do you know you\u2019re thirsty?<\/p>\n Come to Jesus and drink.<\/p>\n Drink of his nearness and his love. Rest in what he has done for you and yield to his Holy Spirit in you. When we recognize our tremendous need for him and depend upon him for our every word and deed, he will teach us to love others as he\u2019s loved us.<\/p>\n Prayer: <\/strong>Lord Jesus, I\u2019ve not always been thirsty for you. I\u2019ve chased after worldly dreams and pleasures thinking they would satisfy me. But each empty pursuit only makes the longing grow. I know now that I\u2019ve been thirsty for you all my life. Teach me how to drink deeply of your love. I want my life to be a life of overflow. Please flow from my life like Rivers of Living Water, that all who are in my path will be blessed and loved by you. Amen.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Ecclesiastes 3:11<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a kid, I loved neighborhood football games with my friends. We\u2019d all dress up in our pads, donning our favorite team\u2019s helmet. Mine was a white Baltimore Colt helmet, with royal blue horseshoes painted above the ear holes and Johnny Unitas\u2019 number 19 on the back. When I ride by our old neighborhood today, … Continue reading Thirsty?<\/span>