John 7: 37-38 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
I’ve been on a low salt diet. But over the holidays with family around, I went out to eat. The meal I ordered must have been laden with salt because by the time I got home I was parched. I guzzled water. The thirst didn’t subside. The next morning my throat was dry and my tongue sticky. I downed another tall glass. I was thirsty a good portion of the day.
Jesus says we are to be the salt of the earth. We are to help people realize they are thirsty for a Savior. Only Christ can satisfy that parchness they feel in their souls. Ever hear the saying, “Drink it all in”? There is a dryness that nothing else can quench, no matter how hard we try. Money can’t. Nor can power, or fame, or popularity. Not even human love can satisfy the thirst.
I have read that Americans are chronically dehydrated and we don’t even know it. Few drink the recommended 6-8 glasses of water each day. We gulp sports drinks, sodas, teas, coffee – everything except the water our bodies so desperately need to function well. When we are to the point that we say, “Wow, am I thirsty!”, we are actually beyond thirsty – we are in dehydration mode.
I think that is true for us in a spiritual sense as well. How often do we try to guzzle down other things when what we really need is some quiet time with our Lord? We fill our thirst with friends, with family, with work, with fun, with shopping. A week after my husband died a wise widow friend called me and asked, “Have you gone shopping yet?” I had to laugh. I had done just that and it elevated my mood – for an hour or so. That night I fell to my knees. That elevated me for a lot longer.
Who or what is the salty catalyst in your life right now that is calling you to come and drink in Christ’s love and mercy? Will you run to other sources to try and quench that thirst before you kneel to the one Source who can?
