Ex.
17:3-7 John 4:5-42
Water
is a basic necessity of life. 70% of human body is made up of water. When people
are thirsty or dehydrated they lose energy, get weak/tired, they get sick, they
die. In fact, no water, no life. Thirst is a terrible thing. Everybody is
thirsty in today’s readings. The Jews in the desert, the Samaritan woman. Even Jesus
is thirsty (John 19:30) that is why he moved to the well. But his is a different
kind of thirst-thirsty for our souls. What about you? Are thirsty? If so, what
are you thirsty for?
The
Israelites were tormented by thirst in the desert. They wanted water by all
means. They complained against God and Moses his servant. At a point they
wanted to stone Moses. They lost sight of God’s marvelous deeds in Egypt; they forgot
the promises of God for the future and even wanted to give up the dream of the
promise land. Nothing was important to them any more than water. In their immense
thirst for water at Massah and Meribah, they failed the test of trust and
obedience in God. They were faced with a major challenge: are we to continue
trust this God of ours or are we to do it in our own way? This is familiar with
all of us. We find ourselves ask sometimes how long can we continue to wait on
God? It is the root of rebellion and sin because we often do it in our own.
In
times of temptation, sickness, and acute deprivation many abandon their faith
in God to satisfy a momentary thirst, hunger and (or) carnal desire. In Genesis 25:29-34, Easu sold his birth right
forever to satisfy a momentary hunger. In Judges 15:4-22, Samson lost his
powers while trying to satisfy the flesh with a good looking woman
Philistine-Delilah. Many of us like Easu and Samson has lost favor with in a
bid to satisfy a momentary pleasure or pressure, to make money by any means
(ochara acha, ochaghi acha, ghota ya), to grab job or contract by any means, to
have political appointment by any means, to get that husband at all cost, to keep that
boyfriend or girl friend, to do abortion and be free from pregnancy.
We
need to encounter Jesus! True encounter with God leads to transformation. The Samaritan
woman at the well had a true encounter with Christ-the word made flesh and she
became not only a disciple but also missionary and living water which flows out
to others. Before now, she was looking for life in dead waters. And now she
found life in Christ, the living water. Perhaps many of us are looking for life
in dead waters. In what way are you looking for life in dead waters? Surely, our Lord is the living water. No material
thing can quench the thirst within. No wealth, no pleasure, no position can
still fill the deepest desire in the heart of man. St. Augustine, having known
the futility of seeking life in dead-stagnant waters, rightly said: “The Lord
created us for himself and our hearts are restless until they rest in him”. Only
in God can our thirst for love, for life and for meaning be satisfied. Often we
make the mistake of thinking that by having the latest gadgets or having
pleasurable activities that hunger will be satisfied. Ironically, the hunger
for having increases by having. St. Augustine also declared: “men seek happiness
even when they live in such a way as to render happiness impossible”.
There
is a fundamental thirst for God in every man. In psalm 42:1-2, David wrote: “As
a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul
thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of
God?” More so, in chapter 63:1, the same psalmist wrote: “O God, you are my
God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry
and weary land where there is no water”.
There
is a yearning in every man which only God can fill, a wild storm only he can
still. He is ever ready to do it for us as long as we long for it. In Isaiah
55:1 he says: “everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no
money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price.” In John 7:37-38 Jesus declares: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,
and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of
the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.”
What
do you thirst for and where do you get satisfied? Every soul that thirsts for
God shall be satisfied, as the scripture says: “Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matt. 5:6). “They will
hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching
heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he
will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes" (Rev. 7:17-19).
HAPPY
SUNDAY
