Everyone Who Thirsts…

In the book of Isaiah (55:1-3), we read these words: Ho, everyone who thirsts; come to the waters… 

I think about how often water is used as a metaphor in our scriptures. In the dry, dusty middle eastern setting in which they were written, water was often scarce. It is no wonder that Jesus and many of the prophets and poets turned to water and thirst into spiritual teachings. It had to be right at the forefront of people’s minds. They also seemed to be very much aware that just as a person can become desperate for water, so too we can become desperate for other types of nourishment. 

Come to the waters!… everyone who thirsts….

Jesuit Priest Guy Consolmagno once put it this way: Deep within us all, there is an underlying hunger, a hunger for understanding, for connection, for wholeness, which is to say an underlying hunger for God himself.

In that same passage in Isaiah, God continues to speak: “Listen carefully to me. Eat what is good and delight yourself in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me…” In other words, all that you’ve been looking for, all that you’ve been longing for, it’s here. All you have to do is turn to me and receive.

Let us pray: So often in life, O God, we find ourselves hungry and thirsty, longing for understanding, longing for connection, longing for something more. We turn to you again today. May your living water fill us, refresh us, and then spill out of our lives to the point of overflowing. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.