God thirsts for us
Posted on 03/08/2006 6:51:41 PM PST by sionnsar
his is the one of two entries today in a series of daily Lenten devotionals by a group of Anglican bloggers and friends. This entry is by Pat Dague of the Transfigurations blog. The second post by Richard Kew follows below. You can read all the other entries in the series here.
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God thirsts for us
I have always been drawn to the imagery of water in Scripture. Water flowing, filling, pouring out, baptizing, cleansing, healing. Without water, we become thirsty. How is it possible that God can thirst, we wonder, and yet we remember the words that Jesus spoke from His cross, “I thirst”. His was a desperate cry for souls, not just a physical need to be satisfied. The knowledge that God first loved us, and longs after us can barely be comprehended.
Spurgeon meditates on this God who thirsts for us:
“Christ was always thirsty to save men, and to be loved of men; and we see a type of his life-long desire when, being weary, he sat thus on the well and said to the woman of Samaria, “Give me to drink.” There was a deeper meaning in his words than she dreamed of, as a verse further down fully proves, when he said to his disciples, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” He derived spiritual refreshment from the winning of that women’s heart to himself. And now, brethren, our blessed Lord has at this time a thirst for communion with each one of you who are his people, not because you can do him good, but because he can do you good. He thirsts to bless you and to receive your grateful love in return; he thirsts to see you looking with believing eye to his fulness, and holding out your emptiness that he may supply it.” link
We thirst for God
And then there is the longing we have for Him.
The Psalmist writes:
Psalm 63:1
O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 107:5-9
5 They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them. 6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses. 7 He led them also by a straight way, To go to an inhabited city. 8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! 9 For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.
Psalm 143:5-6
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy doings; I muse on the work of Thy hands. 6 I stretch out my hands to Thee; My soul longs for Thee, as a parched land. [Selah].
In his book “The Pursuit of God “, Tozer speaks to the inner desire of the Christian to drink deeply at the font of Life, to satisfy his longing for God. He writes of those in Scripture who were God-intoxicated, who lived their lives immersed in and consumed with God:
“Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking. Moses used the fact that he knew God as an argument for knowing Him better. `Now, therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight’; and from there he rose to make the daring request, `I beseech thee, show me thy glory.’ God was frankly pleased by this display of ardour, and the next day called Moses into the mount, and there in solemn procession made all His glory pass before him.
David’s life was a torrent of spiritual desire, and his psalms ring with the cry of the seeker and the glad shout of the finder. Paul confessed the mainspring of his life to be his burning desire after Christ. `That I may know Him,’ was the goal of his heart, and to this he sacrificed everything. `Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may win Christ’ (Phil 3:8). “
Lord, we cannot comprehend fully the love that so longs and thirsts for us, the ardent desire that caused You to pour yourself out for us. Increase in us, we pray, a similar desire to love and serve You in the brothers and sisters You put in our path. Make us so thirsty for You that nothing else satisfies! In Jesus’ Name. Amen!
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Pat Dague of Transfigurations is a member of St. Andrew’s in the Valley, Syracuse, NY, and active in the music ministry there. She is the wife of Attorney Raymond Dague and the mother of Ryan and Kevin, both in college, thank the Lord! She is very surprised to be considered a part of the very revered and respected Anglican blogosphere.
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Readings for the Day
Genesis 37:25-36, 1 Corinthians 2:1-13, Psalm 49, Mark 1:29-45
Scripture Focus: Genesis 37:25-34
Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
Thought for the Day
One of my favorite quotes from Shakespeare reads as follows, ‘Oh What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.’ Not much more needs to be said about this sorry episode in the story of Joseph. Look, too, how the brothers distanced themselves from their brother. They did not say, “Is this our brother’s robe of many colors?” to their father, instead they said, “Is this YOUR son’s robe?” Isn’t that kind of distancing the way we all behave when we have acted dishonestly?
Thanksgiving for the Day
We praise God that we can learn so much about ourselves from such a story of deceit.
Intercession for the Day
Let us examine our hearts, recognize where we might be deceitful, seek forgiveness, and then attempt to bring about restoration.
Collect for the Day
“Repentance… is the turning of the mind, and with the mind the imagination, the affections and the will, away from self and sin and towards God… We look towards God in gratitude for his loving-kindess, towards Jesus in his death for our sins, towards our own true self in what it is meant to become.”
(Ponder quietly these few words written by Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1960s and 1970s)
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Richard Kew is an Episcopal priest in Franklin, TN. As he writes about himself on his blog “I was ordained in the Church of England in 1969, but have spent most of my ministry in the USA. I have worked internationally and have a passion that the church get it right in the future.” Devotionals by Richard Kew are available daily by e-mail.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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