◄ A Thirst For God ►

I Thirst..

His are the thousand sparkling rills
That from a thousand fountains burst,
And fill with music all the hills;
And yet He saith, I thirst.

All fiery pangs on battlefields;
On fever beds where sick men toss,
And in that human cry He yields
To anguish on the cross.

But more than pains that racked Him then,
Was the deep longing thirst divine
That thirsted for the souls of men:
Dear Lord! and one was mine.

O love most patient, give me grace;
Make all my soul athirst for Thee;
That parched dry lip, that fading face,
That thirst, were all for me.

Deep Love

How deep our Saviours love for me, how cavernous His thirst for you. The Lord breathed out His life-breath after His final joyous shout:- it is finished, for every jot and tittle of the law had been fulfilled when Christ pleaded:- I thirst.

Eternal Victory

Every painful step had the goal of His calling in view – the salvation of man. Every moment of His life had been a journey to His final and eternal victory. Sins were forgiven, the power of sin and death broken and Satan was defeated – so that all that believe on Him would not perish but have eternal life.

Thirsty Love

So many simply look on His thirst at Calvary as a purely bodily need, yet each scene and every word preceding His death contains a depth of meaning. He thirsted for more than soothing water to refresh His pain-racked body. He thirsted for the very souls of sinful men to bring them into union with Himself. His thirsty love yearns so deeply that it stretches throughout eternity – for it is His desire that all should come to repentance and life, in Him.

Oswald Saunders:

Oswald Saunders put it this way when He wrote: 'Did He not thirst to be thirsted after? He is still athirst for the fellowship and devotion of those for whom He thirsted on the cross. His was a thirst that could assuage the thirst of the whole world. “I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink,” He said to His surprised listeners. ‘Lord, when saw we Thee athirst and gave Thee drink?” they replied in amazement. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me".'

Deep Yearning

We can still hold the cup to His lips by going to those who are needy and ministering His name. Sin separates all from God and Christ’s sacrifice is the only way to reconciliation, Jesus Christ yearns after us with a depth of love that we do not understand – yet we have been commissioned to love as He loves – to thirst as He thirsts. But before we can satisfy the need of others, we must first yearn for Him. Before we can satisfy the thirst of others, we must first thirst for Him.

O love most patient, give me grace;
Make all my soul athirst for Thee.