“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” (Psalm 42:1 NIV)
Decades ago, during a time when youth went to the parks in their neighborhood for recreation instead of rendezvous characterized by unscrupulous behaviors, after a rigorous pick-up game, children would run and line up at a fountain where you would utilize a pump handle to cause refreshing water to flow out. If you were far behind in the line, there was a good chance that the source from where the water would come from would be depleted. If you were “lucky” you would be able to pump up a very few drops, but hardly enough to quench your thirst. If you don’t remember those days, or you are too young to relate to what I have described, ask someone from an older generation, perhaps a Traditionalist or a Baby Boomer. In those days there were no fancy water bottles, no wide-mouth thirst quencher bottles, no five-gallon coolers staged outside the playing field, and there were no backpacks with compartments to carry your colorful bottle filled with electrolyte refreshing water. Now, if you are asking, “Didn’t you have canteens?” let me clarify with a certifiable claim, “I’m not that old!”
Back to the water pump or the rare fountains that seemed to be on a stingy rations program. In those years, you just had wait patiently in line and hope that the source would not run dry. You had to remain optimistic, believing that when it was finally your long-awaited turn, you would be able to pump out a few drops, at least enough to wet your lips.
Yet, there were occasions when you got to the front of the line and regardless of your effort, it would be in vain. Yes, you could pump, and pump, and pump, but all you could hear was the sound of the iron fountain’s parts rubbing together like rusty metals. Not a drop was left.
I don’t know what everybody else did but just let me be transparent. On more than one occasion, as I walked home, still needing to quench my thirst, feeling like I was stranded in the middle of the largest, hot desert in the world, the Sahara Desert, I took matters into my own hands. Look, I was so thirsty, really thirsty. So, I decided to go to the side of a stranger’s house or some nearby neighbor’s home, find their outside faucet, and turn the spigot. Sometimes there was a hose and other times I just cupped my hands together and guzzled down water until a great fear of being caught took over. Just for the record, still being transparent, it is like the songwriter said, “The things I used to do, I don’t do no more.”
What I shared with you is a true, but you don’t want to know about my childhood adventures, right? You want to know about quenching your thirst spiritually on those times where you are like the Psalmist who is described in today’s opening verse. Am I right again? I thought so!
Well, the answer is found in the closing verses. I am sure one of them is specifically for you! Know that you can always come to that fountain described as so rich and sweet and cast they poor soul at the Savior’s feet! Have a great Wednesday! Be blessed!
“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35 NASB)
“Now on the last and most important day of the feast, Jesus stood and called out [in a loud voice], ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38 The Amplified Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King