SCRIPTURE: Psalm 63:1
(CEB)
God! My God! It's
you— I search for you! My whole being thirsts for you! My body desires you in a
dry and tired land, no water anywhere.
STORY:
From
an account of the British liberation of Palestine by Major V. Gilbert:
Driving up from Beersheba, a combined force of British, Australians and New
Zealanders were pressing on the rear of the Turkish retreat over arid desert.
The attack outdistanced its water carrying camel train. Water bottles were
empty. The sun blazed pitilessly out of a sky where the vultures wheeled
expectantly.
"Our heads ached," writes Gilbert, "and our
eyes became bloodshot and dim in the blinding glare...Our tongues began to
swell...Our lips turned a purplish black and burst." Those who dropped out
of the column were never seen again, but the desperate force battled on to
Sheria. There were wells at Sheria, and had they been unable to take the place
by nightfall, thousands were doomed to die of thirst. "We fought that
day," writes Gilbert, "as men fight for their lives... We entered
Sheria station on the heels of the retreating Turks. The first objects which
met our view were the great stone cisterns full of cold, clear, drinking water.
In the still night air the sound of water running into the tanks could be distinctly
heard, maddening in its nearness; yet not a man murmured when orders were given
for the battalions to fall in, two deep, facing the cisterns."
He then describes the stern priorities: the wounded, those
on guard duty, then company by company. It took four hours before the last man
had his drink of water, and in all that time they had been standing twenty feet
from a low stone wall on the other side of which were thousands of gallons of
water.
OBSERVATION:
Few of us have ever really known the desperate state of
thirst, especially like the one described by Major Gilbert. How about the
thirst of the soul … a thirst so deep that it hurts?
We live in a land of abundance. While there are individuals
who go to bed hungry in this country we call home, seldom is that an experience
for those who read these words. But the hunger of the heart could be a
different matter entirely.
In spiritual matters we too live in a land of abundance. Our
houses of worship are open weekly, if not more often. They stand ready to
receive us when we decide to show up. A program is planned and we can sit in
the comfort of air-conditioned surroundings to hear and participate in the
experience. Freedom of religious expression is a luxury, a luxury that is made
abundantly available… free for the taking… free to all who would choose to be
there.
Words from a Chinese Christian who spoke at a gathering in
Nashville many years ago still ring in my ears. He said, “It is too easy to be
a Christian in America. It doesn’t cost you anything. You take it all for
granted and fail to appreciate what you have.” And then he went on to describe
how the desire, thirst grew within his own soul when the Communist marched in
and took away all those privileges.
When water is abundant we do not know thirst until water is
taken away. When religious expression is abundant we do not know desire until
we enter a point of great need. The thirst of the soul can be so deep that it
hurts. May our desire for God be so strong that we never let our soul go
thirsty.
PRAYER:
We desire you more than the breath we take or the life we
live. Help us never to take your presence for granted nor the privilege to
worship you casually.
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