Quenching Christ’s Thirst

I’d like to start this devotional post off with some verses from John 4:

He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.

 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
(John 4:3-7)

This is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well meeting Jesus for the first time. I’m sure most of you already know the whole story. But I’d like to really direct your attention to the last part of verse 7–this is Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman:

Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
(John 4:7)

How does this apply to us as Christians?

Cravings

Have you ever had cravings?

Sometimes I would crave fatty, high carb dishes like mac and cheese or chow mein.
But did you know that God Himself also has cravings? Not food cravings, but a different kind of craving. Check out what one of my favorite writers, Ellen White, wrote in her book The Desire of Ages:

“Our Redeemer thirsts for recognition. He hungers for the sympathy and love of those whom He has purchased with His own blood. He longs with inexpressible desire that they should come to Him and have life. As the mother watches for the smile of recognition from her little child, which tells of the dawning of intelligence, so does Christ watch for the expression of grateful love, which shows that spiritual life is begun in the soul.”

~The Desire of Ages page 191~

God has a THIRST, a HUNGER, a LONGING, a CRAVING for one thing. And that is love. A grateful love that recognizes Him as a Father and a Friend.

Do You Recognize Him?

I was in the restroom drying my hands with a paper towel. My family and I were attending a Christian conference called iShare, and there was a little intermission going on, so I just went to go and use the restroom. As I was drying my hands, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and looked up to see a girl I didn’t recognize.

“Uh…Aleah?” The girl said.
I stared at her in pure bewilderment. Who was this person? How did she know my name? Maybe she was mistaking me for someone else….

Then my brain finally began to work.

“OLIVIA*!” I said, finally recognizing my best friend.
We then hugged, happy and surprised to see each other again after three years since she moved.

How is it that I didn’t recognize my friend at first? Perhaps it’s because we haven’t seen each other in a long time. However, for us as Christians, we may do the same thing in our spiritual lives. Jesus comes to us with all of His many blessings–but do we recognize Him? Maybe there are times where we don’t recognize Jesus at first because we haven’t been taking the time to see Him at the table. Or maybe we haven’t seen Him at all.

Dear reader, when Jesus comes with a blessing for us, do we recognize Him? Do we acknowledge Him as being our sole Father and Friend? Or do we complain? Do we try pushing Him back into the far corners of our hearts? Do you recognize Him? Do you acknowledge Him?

Just One Drink

Today, dear reader, Jesus is asking you just like how He asked that Samaritan woman at the well:

Jesus asked her, “Would you please give me a drink of water?”
(John 4:7 CEV)

Christ is craving, thirsting, and longing for that grateful love of recognition from you, dear reader. Will you recognize Him today as your only Friend and Father? If you wish to satisfy Christ’s thirst, and humbly acknowledge Him as your true Father and your true Friend, then just pray:

I’d like to conclude this blog post with a verse you may claim and meditate on along with the above prayer:

Let my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.
(Psalm 71:8)

Amen! Maranatha!

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*Not her real name