I Need a Drink

A new year. A new decade. A clean slate to start anew. With 2010 stretching out like a vast blank canvas, it feels like my first words written upon it should be revolutionary, monumental, significant. Yet the words and phrases bouncing around my mind sound incredibly ordinary and every day. One word bubbles to the surface of my consciousness and out through my typing fingers.

Thirst.

The other day I heard sloshing coming from the bathroom. In response to the familiar sound I yelled, “Tess! Stop drinking from the toilet!”  The slurping ceased and out emerged our furriest family member, our Yellow Lab. With water dripping from her jowls, she looked sheepish, but satisfied.

I glanced at her empty water bowl and understood the reason for the alternate beverage choice. See, when it comes to thirst, Tess will do whatever it takes to satisfy it, without regard for propriety (or taste apparently). She’ll drink from toilets, our pond out back, swimming pools, lakes, streams and even mud puddles. When she’s thirsty, she’s gotta have water… NOW!

As much as Tess’ liquid refreshment choices make me gag, I suppose her dog brain tells her what’s OK to drink because she’s never gotten sick. (Although I draw the line at the mud puddles.)

I want to be more like Tess. No, not to drink from toilets, but to be driven by thirst. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes such a thirst. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)

When I first read this passage, I didn’t understand how being hungry and thirsty was a blessing. Then I delved deeper and realized Jesus wasn’t talking about physical hunger or thirst, but spiritual. He wants us to have an unsatiable thirst for the Almighty. To love Him with all we have—body, mind and soul. To seek Him. To submit to Him and learn from Him. To open the door and let Him in. He doesn’t want us to snack, but to partake fully. Robustly. Passionately.

God promises that when we do, we will know Him in ways beyond our understanding and comprehension. And our souls will be satisfied.

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:37-38)

So that is my prayer for 2010, to develop an unquenchable thirst. For His word. For prayer. For worship. For fellowship. For reaching out in His name. I want to crave the Almighty more than I crave freshly baked brownies or a venti caramel macchiato. I pray this for you, too.

Let’s make a promise,though—no drinking out of the toilets.