Bunbury
Wed pm
17/03/10
“Thirsty?”
Intro: ***One of the prominent features today when you walk into a service station is the drink section.
Many years ago you could pull into a garage to get some fuel & not necessarily be able to buy a drink – they often didn’t stock them!
No so today!!! It’s almost a given that if you sell fuel you’ll sell drinks too.
Many of these well known brand drinks promise to have the answer to satisfying your thirst.
One is – The thirst crusher!
Another says it’s for – For a man sized thirst!
Coke is even bolder than this & makes the general claim that – Things go better with Coke!
Sprite (who is also owned by Coca Cola) tells us to – Obey your thirst!
Thirst is a universal appetite that is within each & every one of us....... not only this but it is a perpetual appetite!
In other words if you drink today & slake your thirst you’re going to have to do it again tomorrow & the next day & next week!
It’s a good thing that we have this perpetual appetite b/c w/o it we’d dehydrate & die in a very short time.
But it is also a perpetual spiritual appetite.
God has created men to be perpetually spiritually thirsty!
Feeling thirsty tonight? You may not know it but thirst is a part of your life & has been since the moment you were born.
What’s more it will continue to be a part of your life / desires for the rest of your life.
It’s a good thing then that we are aware of this & learn how to satisfy our thirst the right way.
I want to preach a message tonight simply called ‘Thirsty?’.
Text: Psalms 42:1-2 (NKJV) As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
# 1. The natural phenomenon of thirst.
A. Thirst is one of the most natural appetites in the human body.
a. We all have to live w/ the reality of thirst every single day.
i. The first thing a baby wants to do after being born is drink! ...... 9 months living in water & the first thing after being born is give me a drink!!!
ii. But this continues all through life ....... kids are born thirsty & continue to be thirsty.
iii. Teenagers seem to have limitless thirst – sometimes I think it’s a good thing the ocean isn’t made out of Coke!
iv. But it doesn’t stop there b/c whenever you find a group of adults together for any social setting there is invariably going to be something to drink – tea / coffee / soft drinks / alcohol.
v. Thirst has been referred to as the perpetual appetite in life.
vi. Jesus appeals to this appetite as he speaks to the woman @ the well ...
John 4:13 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
b. But there are things in life that heighten / accentuate our thirst.
i. We often see this in people who go from r/s to r/s / job to job ..... even people who are continually travelling – many times its thirst they’re trying to satiate.
ii. The right r/s / job / place to be ........ but the only thing to come out of it is more thirst.
iii. We don’t know who wrote the Psalm but possibly the writer’s watching a deer being pursued craving some water in the chase & he says .....
Vs 1. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
iv. We are very much like that deer pursued – not by a hunter but by life – inwardly we thirst for deep / lasting satisfaction.
B. God has put something in us that won’t allow the thirst to go away.
*** A small boy is sent to bed by his father. Five minutes later....
"Da-ad...."
"What?"
"I’m thirsty. Can you bring drink of water?"
"No. You had your chance. Lights out."
Five minutes later: "Da-aaaad....."
"WHAT?"
"I’m THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water??"
"I told you NO!" If you ask again, I’ll have to spank you!!"
Five minutes later......"Daaaa-aaaad....."
"WHAT!"
"When you come in to spank me, can you bring a drink of water?"
a. Like I said thirst is a perpetual appetite.
i. This means that you are going to get thirsty today / tomorrow / next week & next year – it’s going to keep coming back.
ii. That’s a good thing ....... b/c it drives us to do something we essentially need to do – drink!
iii. And so it is w/ the thirst we have for God ..... this thirst, there is a perpetual nagging w/i that tells us something is missing / needs topping up.
Psalms 63:1 (NKJV) O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
b. The writer of our psalm recognises that what he needs to quench his thirst is nothing less than the living God Himself.
i. Listen to what he says here in our text ....
Vs 1. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
Vs 2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. ......
ii. Like the Sprite advertisement says we need to – obey our thirst!
# 2. Choosing where you drink.
A. Desiring to quench your thirst is natural but where you drink is critical.
a. There’s nothing wrong w/ having a thirst – you just need to satisfy it the right way.
*** W/ every disaster of any magnitude we experience in the world today one of the critical post disaster issues is drinking water. W/ cities / towns destroyed so many times is the drinking water supply. When there’s a lack of clean drinking water disease soon sets in & death follows.
People have to be urged that even though they are thirsty & fresh water is in demand don’t drink from the city supply!
i. Where you drink from makes a critical difference ..... it’s not your thirst but how you satisfy your thirst that is the critical issue.
*** I’ve seen dogs in the third world drinking from drains that I wouldn’t swim in. But to a dog he doesn’t know any better ...... as long as he laps up some water & temporarily feels better that’s all that matters.
ii. You can drink from a fountain or you can drink from a drain – both will temporarily satisfy your thirst but the consequences are very different.
b. Adam & Eve give us a very good pict of human nature – a thirsty nature!
i. The serpent comes to Eve w/ the promise that if she eats from the forbidden tree she’ll be like a god.
ii. Here the enemy exploits a natural appetite w/i unfallen & sin free man.
iii. Having been in the presence of God made the thought very appealing – who wouldn’t want to be like God???
iv. But even though it’s God’s desire also for Adam & Eve to be more like Him .... they chose to drink from the drain rather than the fountain!
Genesis 3:6 (NKJV) So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
B. Where you drink from determines if your thirst will be quenched.
a. Jesus points out to the woman @ the well the problem – you’re going to have to keep coming back.
i. The problem w/ this well Jesus says ..... is you’re going to have to keep coming back.
ii. And that’s the problem w/ the wells of life that we choose to fill our/s from ..... we have to keep coming back.
*** Maybe you’ve been at the beach on a hot day, the sun is beating down & you’re enjoying the cool of the ocean. The only problem is that your thirst is getting the better of you. As you look at the ocean it looks so cool / refreshing. Maybe, you think, I could just take a little sip of sea water just to keep me going a little while. But just one sip is all it takes to let you know you’re drinking the wrong thing to satisfy your thirst.
iii. We want to quench our thirst by drinking from all the wrong sources – the wells of materialism / career / entertainment / r/s / success / illicit pleasures etc.
b. If you’re thirsty that’s a good thing ..... not a bad thing.
i. But the all impt question is how are you satisfying that God given appetite?
ii. Where are you looking in life to satisfy something that only God can take care of?
*** Many years ago b/4 I got saved I got drunk one night on Scotch. I really overdid it! Not just a drink or two either. The worst thing was that the next morning I experienced what whisky drinkers refer to as the dry horrors. I had a killer thirst that just would go away. I drank water, as much as I could until I was full but the thirst remained. I had to keep drinking more & more water which made me feel more & more full. I was full but still thirsty!
iii. And if you look in the wrong places & to the wrong things that’s what will happen to you too – you may be full but you’ll still be thirsty!!
# 3. Quenching the thirst.
A. Wherever God creates a longing in us He provides the means for that longing to be met.
a. Many people today are living lives ‘filled w/ emptiness’.
i. What they have never learned is that they are encountering a need that God H/s has promised to meet.
ii. God knows that we are all born w/ the ‘spiritual dry horrors’ – we drink up everything this world says we need to but we’re still not satisfied.
iii. The psalmist asks the question in our text .....
Vs 2. ........ When shall I come and appear before God?
(GWT) Vs 2. ...... When may I come to see God’s face?
(TMSG) VS 2. I’m thirsty for God-alive. I wonder, “Will I ever make it— arrive and drink in God’s presence?”
b. The promise that He gives us is that anyone who comes to Him can freely drink in the presence of God.
i. Jesus has promised to satisfy the thirsty soul .....
John 7:37-38 (NKJV) On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
*** I noticed on my way out to Brunswick the other day a paddock filled w/ green grass on the side of a gentle slope. At the top of that slope is a spring where water apparently bubbles up out of the ground. Everything around it is green & it flows under the road & where it flows down everything on the other side of the road is also green & flourishing.
ii. It’s a presence that fills us w/ hope / joy / peace / confidence ...... but it’s also a presence that you have to make up your mind to come into & drink up.
B. Finally, God gives us the promise of no more thirst.
a. Heaven is a place where we’ll never again thirst.
i. Why? B/c we’ll be perpetually in the presence of the One who quenches / satisfies all thirst.
Revelation 22:1-2 (NKJV) And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:17 (NKJV) And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
