Have the Experiences of Life Left You Parched?

"If any person thirst, let him come unto me, and drink."  John 7:37

The words of the Iesous are always essential.  The words of the Iesous convey a necessary word of truth. His words are always vital and definitive.  The real time situations into which he spoke were deliberate and at times dangerous because he dared to speak to persons with entrenched but unstable beliefs about life.  He had the uncanny perceptive skill to perform a differential diagnosis of any spiritual condition, and prescribe the necessary healing path.

The Iesous never engaged in debate about the character of God, but he always bared the motives of those who tried to manipulate him into trite theological debate.  The attention of the Iesous always centered around  the will of God for his own life, and those who needed the presence of God in their own lives.  He lived that which he taught.

"If any man thirst, let him come unto me" are words for the desperate ones who have suffered unspeakable acts of betrayal.  They are words for those who have thrown themselves away through relentless self-abuse and self-hate.  God has a message of acceptance for those who cannot accept themselves because they have been carefully 'seasoned' to believe that they are unacceptable.  God's Word is for those who are thirsty.  God's Word is for those whose thirst is intrinsic.

In Victor Frankel's book, 'Man's Search For Meaning', is a compelling message of hope.  Frankel spoke in the context of World War II and the existential crisis of those whose lives had been overthrown by genocide mania.

The words of the Iesous are also for those who have found themselves in search of meaning, but he does not offer a therapy he offers himself as the answer for those who thirst.  The experiences of life can leave us parched wanting to know if there is an answer to the desert like emptiness within a heart that is a barren wasteland.

T. S. Elliot bemoans the reality:  "So many, so many I had not thought death had undone so many."  There is this feeling within most people that they are more than a mere 'Ghost Within the Machine' and that the charming metaphysics of Alan Watts enlightens but leaves one asking for a deeper reality to explore.  The Iesous says that He is that One who meets the deeper needs of the heart.

For the one who snorts a white line of pleasure seeking to temporarily disengage there is hope in the Iesous.  For the one who has become an amateur neuro-naut exploring the contours and recesses of the mind and brain and discovered no lasting satisfaction there is hope in the Iesous. For the inner city rap poet who is highly skilled in the prophetic discourse of despair there is hope in the Iesous.  For the comic artist who reshapes and reflects our world to us by his brilliant ability to make us laugh at the absurd without and within there is hope in the Iesous.

"If any person thirst let him come to me and drink" are terrible words if they are not true words. They are true words and they are stated in the imperative by the Iesous.  God has come to us in a manner that we can understand and appreciate.

For those who are looking for love in all the places and have become disillusioned by their futile search there is hope in the Iesous.   I challenge you to read the Gospel of John, and if you do, ask God to guide your reading of the book.  Do so with humility and openness of heart and ask God to reveal himself to you therein and he will speak to you.

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