Refreshment for the Thirsty Soulby Doug Smith
“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”Jeremiah 17: 7, 8
The oldest tree in the world is thought to be a bristlecone pine tree named Methuselah, located in California’s White Mountains. The estimated age of this tree is almost 5,000 years, meaning that it has remained standing and living through many seasons of extreme California heat. Over this long time, the roots of this tree were consistently able to reach life-sustaining water.The length of our days on earth will never reach 5,000 years, but our experience with life on earth can be much the same as it has been for this tree. There are times we fell the heat of life; pressure at work, family demands, or daily troubles and challenges.Jesus knows how hard those moment are. He felt the heat of this world too. He walked its dry dirt, felt its hurt, and saw its pain. He knows what it’s like to be thirsty for love that many people did not show him. Although he didn’t need forgiveness for any sin, he still knows the hellish pain of every sin, as he offered his perfect life on a cross as a sacrifice, all to assure us that there is no heat or drought or sin on earth that will keep us from standing forever in the perfection of heaven.So, you don’t need to worry. But if you do from time to time, you always have a stream of Living Water to which you can satisfy your thirsty soul. You have the words of the Bible, which is where you always find Jesus and his promises to be with you.PrayerLord Jesus, thank you for giving me such perfect promises of love and forgiveness to trust as we walk through life. Let me never fail to refresh my thirsty soul with truth of all that you have done to save me. Amen.
