Thirsty?

This morning I had the bright idea to run 10 miles. This would have been fine if I had thought ahead and hydrated myself. Instead, around mile 7 I started to get a little dizzy and I knew that what I needed was some H2O. With every step into the pavement all I could think about was water. The chant in my head became the beat I ran to. Running down the road I saw a hope...a Hardees sign. (Not exactly my first choice for food but I really didn't care at this point.) I rerouted and headed straight for the door. Needless to say I got some looks...I can't imagine why. I, honestly, quite impatiently waited at the cash register for someone to notice the dehydrated, heavy breathing girl...only to be told that a cup of water was 25 cents. A quarter turns out to be a lot when you don't have one. (Parking meters anyone?) I was slightly frustrated but turned around and ran right back out. (Apparently I'm stronger than I think, or that door was lighter than I thought it was..but there may have been a slam) I wasn't THAT mad...

The thought struck me...(in the midst of the rest of the three mile sprint back to my apartment) how thirsty our world is. Let's be honest, there are a lot of short-term fixes for those thirsts. But we just end up thirsty again don't we? I had to smile as I thought of the woman at the well and how perplexed she must have been when Jesus told her He was "living water".

..."When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?". The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews did not associated with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you could have asked him and he would have given you living water." "Sir" the woman said, "You have nothing to draw with and this well is deep. Where can you get this living water?" Jesus Answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." ~John 4:7,9-11,13-14

I'm not proud of the fact that I got an attitude about the 25 cent cup...but how many times do we get that reaction when we tell someone about living water? Sometimes we encounter hurt and anger in this world. Life bruises us and our empty water glasses just keep adding up. People are aching and thirsty. Sometimes that hurt translates as apathy or anger. I know that used to be the case for me. Guess what? The water that we need the MOST is absolutely FREE for us because of what Jesus did. We can't earn it. We can't pay for it. "You see at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possible dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8

Just revel in that thought today. While we were powerless to help ourselves, God helped us. Isn't is beautiful how Jesus takes something we understand to teach us something infinitely deeper? We all understand thirst. It's a part of what we experience day after day. I pray we thirst for him like water. May He become what we run to.