Thirst for God (excerpt)

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This is the daily devotional for May 24, taken from The Doctor's Life Support 2 (ICMDA).

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1

When we first know God the relationship is intense, so intense that it is described as thirst. Real thirst, as in dehydration, is painful. Thirst for God comes from the depths of the soul. It is like the yearning lovers feel for each other when apart. There is an interesting Catalan word 'morena' (homesickness), which means 'little death'. One dies a little when one is away from one's love. It is so in our relationship with God.

Thirst for God is not only intense and deep, it is also unselfish. It is centred on God himself and not on his blessings. The psalmist did not approach God to get things from him. Many approach God to get and get and get. The psalmist's thirst for God was motivated by love, and was satisfied only by his presence. He did not thirst after God's blessings and gifts but after God's very presence.

Today's society is hedonistic. People want to feel good and be happy, constantly, while avoiding suffering at all costs. They come to believe that effort and struggle are stupid. By contrast, Jesus' gift to his people was peace in a world of trouble. (John 14:27; John 16:33). Christians have to struggle with hedonistic attitudes, which avoid the harsh realities of life and any part in their solution. The Hebrew word for 'faith' is derived from another word meaning 'tension'. Faith always contains an element of tension. We are not yet as we would like to be. The aim in Christian life is not to eliminate stress but to become more and more like Jesus, not to feel better but to be daily more Christ-like. In this way the rich satisfying fruitfulness, experienced by those who walk with Jesus, replaces the transitory pleasures of the hedonist.

Read: 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and 2 Peter 2:13-19

PMar

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