We need water! – March 13, 2023

So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Exodus 17:2

We need water!

Have you ever been dying of thirst? We might use that phrase when we are really parched on a hot summer day, but it’s no joke. A hiker ventures out into the desert, not even that far, and if he hasn’t carried enough water, he could literally be dying of thirst.

God’s people, the Israelites, were led out into the desert by God and through Moses, God’s appointed leader. God had just rescued them from brutal slavery in Egypt and was leading them to the Promised Land. But now they had run out of water. Sadly, rather than trusting in God to meet their need, they complained to Moses and God.

God demonstrated his patient love for them. He had Moses strike a rock with his staff, and water flowed! God provided water in the middle of the desert. God quenched their thirst.

God, in his love, quenches thirst. When our physical needs are met, when we have cozy homes, and nourished bodies, when our physical thirst is quenched, it can be easy to stop there and think, “What more could I need.” So many in our world are lost in a desert of sin and unbelief and dying of spiritual thirst—thirst for answers, for acceptance, for purpose. The problem is when we look in the wrong places to have that spiritual thirst quenched—the well runs dry. The danger of spiritual dehydration is eternal death.

God provided literal water for thirsty travelers in a miraculous way. In a miraculous way, God quenches our spiritual thirst through his Word. God may not scratch our every curiosity in life, but he does quench our thirsty souls. Our thirst for answers to life’s big questions, like “What will happen after this life?” He answers this with an empty cross and empty tomb—Jesus died for you and rose for you; heaven is yours! Our thirst for acceptance is quenched by God’s forgiveness and assurance that we are his children. This thirst-quenching, life-giving water doesn’t flow from some rock. It flows from God himself, from Jesus Christ, who is true God.

Prayer:
Lord, when all my physical needs are met by your blessing, even then, lead me beside the life-giving waters of your Word and quench my thirsty soul with your love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Amen.