On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.’ John 7:37 (NIV)
The people are all at their religious festival. From far and near they gather together. On the last and greatest day of this gathering, Jesus stands. He declares in a loud voice. He makes an appeal. His words are conditional. They reach many. But they are only for some. To the vast majority will they be a mere curious statement. Even if those words are repeated throughout the generations, will they stand for most to be only an interesting yet detached statement? But what about those select few? For those mentioned, what could it mean? For those who sense their need, what relief can be found?
Who are those who thirst? Could they be the well-fed self-satisfied men of today´s first world countries? Is it us, the consumer-oriented hoards that fill our modern societies? Are the thirsty ones us, who are aggressively taught we can achieve everything we set our heart upon? Or could they be a special people of a different breed? Could these select few be those who are tuned to other goals? Could the thirsty souls that Jesus speaks of, be those last individuals left, who look beyond our clamorous world? Are they the ones who rush off after church to engage in their busy pursuits? Or are they those who linger a moment longer on their knees? Are the thirsty people Jesus mentions the ones who find the world to be a desert for them? Do they stagger under a great burden of thirst? Does their whole being faint for a sip of Living water? Do their eyes search the horizons and under every scraggly brush for signs of some kind of Relief? Is their highest occupation the pursuit of the Divine? Do they sense their soul´s parchment? Is it a cool and refreshing taste of God that they need? Do we sense our thirst? Is it us that Jesus is referring to?
The words Jesus uses linger in the air. Some listened and pondered the curiousness of them. On them the meaning was lost. As His words still float softly to our ears, how will they affect us today? Will their meaning come crushing down like the weight of the desert air upon us? Will we realize our own life-threatening thirst? Are we pained and parched? Does our need for a sip of Jesus Christ enable us to crawl a few steps closer? Jesus holds the cup out for us. He offers us a refreshing taste from a Well without end. His words remain. If anyone is still thirsty, we can come to Him. Will we?
Dear Jesus, these are not the times where men and women realize our need. We chase after many things, but most of the time the goal is not You. We would taste of our precious lives. We would thirst for more of the delights all around us. But there are still some who recognize a need. There are some who are honest enough to see that our real thirst cannot be quenched by anything temporary. We need You! We thirst for Living Water! We desperately need to taste what You have! Only You can quench our thirst! Only You can pick us up off of our knees. Please let the weight of our thirst weigh full upon us! Do not ease up our thirst until we have drunk full and long on You! Let us settle for nothing less than our Saviour pouring into us! Let it be You that flows into us! Let us be the ones who thirst, we pray!
Amen
Searching For Christ 
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