We have all seen those milk commercials on TV; a man suddenly realizes that he is in the afterlife after getting hit by a truck (or something like that) and he is surrounded by tons of chocolate chip cookies, all he can eat!  Surely, he must be in heaven.  Then after stuffing his face with cookies, he reaches for the milk carton, dah dah dah…empty!  Nooooo!!!!  I’m thirsty just thinking about it.

Ok, this is supposed to be a bible study blog, right?  Rewind a few thousand years.  Jesus boldly declares on the last day of a major Jewish festival in John 7:37-38, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”  So my question to you is this, how thirsty are you for what Jesus is offering.

 I can honestly say there was a time in my life when I actually craved the words that were written in the Bible the way I crave a glass of milk after a handful of cookies, or the way a runner craves a tall glass of water after a five-mile run in the heat of the summer.  I would wake up in the morning with this insatiable feeling, a craving to read the bible.  Some days I might forget to read my morning devotions as can happen when life gets busy, and I would find myself itching for something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.  It sounds silly, but I would even go as far as to open up the pantry looking for a snack or a bottle of water, to quench the feeling I was experiencing!  Then it would dawn on me, “I haven’t read God’s word today…”  And low and behold, as I sat down in prayer and began to fill up on His word, my anxieties would disperse and I just felt my spirit’s heart begin to fill with satisfaction and peace because of His love and promises.  I believe the Holy Spirit was prompting my spirit to be in communion with our Lord in prayer and in His word.  I was actually craving “living water” like Jesus offered to the woman at the well.

After reflecting on today’s reading, my prayer is that we are committed to one another to seek Jesus with all of our heart.  I pray that I have a renewed thirst, and that my spirit is awakened to realize that my spiritual health and life hinges on the relationship that my Father has offered to me.  When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, “living water will flow from within…us.” (John 7:38) It is in this state that Jesus is able to move through us as his hands and feet, and we have peace because our only true purpose is to Love and serve Him.  This is how we are satisfied, and it is what Jesus meant when He offered living water to the woman at the well.  Father, give us this thirst to crave you and your word.  We are weak, but in You we are strong.  Amen.