“Ho, every one that thirsteth; come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye and buy.” Isaiah 55:1
Dear Ones:
How do we know that God is working in our hearts, that He is speaking to us? Perhaps the first indication that He is doing so is the consciousness of need. “Thirst” is a very real need, one that begs our attention that it should be met. Spiritual thirst is that consciousness of need that draws us to God, and God to us. It is a blessed gift of God, because in the giving of it, He has for objective to meet the need. He calls us in this manner to convince us of His presence and power. He also does so to reveal his compassion and comprehension of the need. But perhaps the greatest objective of God, with regard to every conscious need, is to bring us into a deeper, and more consistent, communion with Himself. After all, true and eternal life is to KNOW Him, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
In Christ’s dealings with individuals during His ministry on earth, we discover that their needs were so varied, so different. It seems that because of an illness, spiritual oppression, or just consciousness of sin, the objective of God in allowing such, was the same, to first of all, arrest the attention of the person in need. Secondly, it was to reveal the REAL need of the person. For example, the paralytic who was brought to Jesus to be healed, what was his real need? Of all things, it was for forgiveness, and pardon. Jesus did not heal him first physically. His word to him was: “…Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” (Matt. 9:2) It is true that the Lord Jesus wanted all who saw and heard Him to understand that He had the authority to forgive sins, since He was God in the flesh. But with regard to the paralytic, He was seeking his heart, to meet the deep thirsting of his soul first. And this he did, as well as heal him.
What then are we to do when we have “thirsts,” in particular with regard to Christ, God, Himself? We are to go to the door, and give Him access. In Revelation 3, the Lord Jesus addresses the believers in Laodicea: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:20) The consciousness of need is Jesus knowing at the door of one’s heart. Note that the great desire of the Lord Jesus is to “sup” with His child, to have communion with him or her. However, it is only when the believer goes to the door, and deliberately gives Christ access to the heart, that this will occur. There is a promise of God here, that is associated with opening the door to receive Him: “…I WILL come into him and sup with him, and he with Me.” Do we believe this? Will we KNOW the reality of it? God gives us all grace to go to that door, open it gladly, and invite Him in, there to commune with the living and true God. The question then becomes, “How rapidly and frequently, to I open the door?” The truly thirsting soul will not delay to “run” to the door, “flinging wide the gates,” to let the King of glory come in.
Dear Father, give us grace, when the thirsts of life come, even every day, to go to the door and give Thee access to them. Come in Lord Jesus and commune with us. Be perfectly at home in our hearts as we come to know Thee according to Thy word. We thank and praise Thee, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad