But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water. Jeremiah 17: 7-8

Thirsty?

            In the early morning quiet there's nothing I enjoy more than a good cup of coffee and time in the Word.  It's my favorite part of the day.  One recent morning, I snuggled into my regular reading corner of the couch by the lamp, opened my Bible, and took a sip of my hot, perfectly sweetened and creamed (Truvia and half-and-half, since you asked) coffee, and thought, hmmmm, that didn't taste quite right. . . . so I took a bigger mouthful.  Salt!  Ugh!  My coffee tasted like I'd brewed it with seawater!  What in the world?  I called my already-at-work husband, the fixer of all things broken around here to see what he thought.  Our water softener had been acting up for a while now, and it had finally gone out, he said.  Sigh.  Okay, so everything wears out eventually—moth and rust doth corrupt, as the King James puts it—and I guess that applies to water softeners, too, but what was I going to do about my morning coffee? 

            It's a desperate woman who goes outside in her robe and flip-flops to rinse and fill the coffee pot from the garden hose!  Hey, I was thirsty for that coffee!  But what if, instead of being deprived of my coffee, I'd been deprived of my Bible?  To what lengths would I have gone to quench that thirst?

            According to the website of one Christian outreach program, there are currently 45,570 people who live in three restricted nations whose names are on a waiting list to receive a Bible.  In restricted nations government policy prevents Christians from obtaining Bibles, and anti-Christian laws lead to dire consequences—government seizure of personal property, imprisonment, and/or even death—for openly following Jesus.  I'm sure that even having their names on such a list involves risk.  Why take that risk?  They're thirsty!

On the last great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."   John 7:37-38

            In our country where we can obtain Bibles and study materials in any number of versions and languages, how thirsty are we for the Word?  Do we take it for granted the way we take clean, fresh drinking water flowing from our taps for granted?  Does abundant supply make us less concerned about thirst?  It can, but it doesn't have to. 

            How is it that I've grown to be so thirsty for coffee in the mornings?  I've made it a habit.  I've had a cup, or, let's be honest, two or three, every morning for several years now.  The same is true of the Word.  I've made reading it my every-morning habit for several years now.  I miss it so much on the odd mornings when circumstances prevent me from sitting in its pour.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.  Matthew 5:6

            What comes to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness?  Blessing and filling.  What comes to those who drink at the Well that never runs dry?  Rivers of living water flowing from their hearts!

            Thirsty, are you?

Daye Phillippo

November 2013