We’ve seen how Jesus satisfies our spiritual hunger, but the Bible uses thirst as another picture of our longing for satisfaction. “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never go hungry,
and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).
So hunger and thirst are parallel symbols for our soul’s longing, but thirst is more immediate. We can live weeks without food, but only three days without water. Our bodies are, by weight, mostly water, and each cell depends upon it to function. The effects of dehydration are both damaging and painful.
That’s why thirst is such a good picture of our natural cravings. We desire love, food, shelter, means to make a living, and a host of other things. But the satisfaction we gain from these things is ethereal and short-lived. Even when our dreams come true, we become restless and look for more or better or bigger. The quest never ends.
But, as Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, there is such a thing as “Living Water,” which quenches the thirstiest soul, not only for now, but for eternity. How does it work?
Jesus gives us a bundle of clues when He attends the Feast of Tabernacles, a visit recorded in John. One of the high points of that celebration was a ritual procession which ended with the High Priest pouring out water from large earthen jugs. Some believe it was at that point that John picks up the narrative:
“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”‘ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. . .” John 7:37–39
So this is how our ongoing spiritual thirst will be quenched. There will not be a trickle or a brook along the way for us to refresh ourselves. No, there is an artesian well springing up in our hearts so that it’s impossible to become spiritually dehydrated! There is no need to search for an oasis, for each of God’s children has the resident Spirit to quicken, lead, and produce fruit. The Spirit actualizes Jesus’ presence within us, and thus brings peace, comfort, and joy.
But just as we are tempted to try other beverages, we will, at times, seek spiritual satisfaction elsewhere. It never works. It is only the water Jesus brings which quenches that eternal thirst.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water
will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks of the water
that I will give him
will never be thirsty again.
The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life.'”
John 4:13, 14