In John 4 we find the story of the time Jesus met the woman of Samaria at Jacob’s Well:
There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:7-14 NASB
I can remember times of feeling as if I would die unless I got my thirst quenched by Jesus. Have you ever felt as if you were dry spiritually or that you had been in the desert so long that death seemed like the most refreshing answer to the dryness? It was during one of these dry times in my life that I simply cried out to God with the words written by The Sons of Korah in Psalm 42. I didn’t necessarily come out of the dry time. I just came to understand that God was with me – even in those time of pain, suffering, wondering and wandering: Like an animal that has gone without water for days, we must see our need for Jesus Christ and seek Him as if our life depends upon it…because it does!
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
While [they] say to me all day long, "Where is your God?”
These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng [and] lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
Psalm 42:1-4 NASB
We can have our thirst quenched anytime, any place, under any circumstances…because we have THE Living Water - Jesus Christ - living in US! Let’s release the flow of Jesus Christ today and quench our thirst in a dry and weary land where there seems to be no water. Drink deep today…
Dennis Jernigan
To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching along with the song As The Deer Thirsts For The Water, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/as-the-deer-thirsts-for-the-water/
Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/12/24/17/23/deer-579198_1280.jpg