In Christ, We Thirst No More

I was surprised to find these engraved verses inside a hospital in Al Ain, UAE: "Everyone who drinks of the water shall thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst." John 4:13-14.  It was very apt since we were in the desert, and we did get thirsty often.  Thirst is a human phenomenon that we can all relate. 

One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 42:2-3 "As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My being thirsts for God, the living God. When can I go and see the face of God?".

It amazes me how this Psalm connects to Jesus -- the face of God; and that Jesus, who is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, fulfills the thirst of the psalmist.  The face of God in Jesus quenches our thirst: he is the Living Water (cf. John 4:10). John Paul II, in Tertio Millenio Adveniente said: “Christ is thus the fulfilment of the yearning of all the world's religions and, as such, he is their sole and definitive completion." All our yearnings---our thirst in this world---in Christ alone can it be satisfied!

In our thirst, it is important that we drink from the well of Christ. Christ’s well makes us well. In getting water from a well, we need to: lower down the bucket; draw water; and pull the bucket back. Applying this to our Christian life, we are to:

1. Lower down your pride. Pride is a major hindrance to fulfillment -- it never satisfies. Pride seeks recognition and self-righteousness. In lowering our pride, we give way for the Spirit to work in us. Humility is always the way to Jesus.

2. Draw from the Living Water of Christ. Through sincere prayer and utmost faith, we are refreshed by the Holy Spirit -- like water flowing to cleanse and fill us.  No longer should we draw from the pleasures that our weakened nature, by original sin, incline us to -- all by God's grace.

3. Pull Yourself Back from Temptations.  The lures of the world will always be there; but if we have genuinely drank from the living water of Christ, all these temptations fade in comparison with the true joy in living as a Christian.

Now that Jesus has revealed the Father through himself; our deepest and truest longings have a face. It never ceases to leave me in awe how God became man, so we may realize that God wants to make himself known -- to be in solidarity with us and to show us the wayback to Him, whom our soul ultimately longs and thirsts.