A Thirsty Soul

I like to run and in just over one week I'm going to run another marathon.  Training this spring has been good and I'm looking forward to the race.  The race is in Kayenta, AZ and I ran there last year.  In not sure how to describe that section of northeast Arizona.  Barren?  Rugged?  Arid?  There is a kind of beauty there that is perhaps better seen than described. 

One thing I recall from last year was how it was starting to get noticeably warm towards the end of the race.  The day began cool but there was a delay to the start and as I was heading back to town and the finish line I was beginning to feel the heat.  I wanted to finish, not only because 26 miles is a long ways to run, but also because historically I don't do very well running in warm temperatures.

When I crossed the finish line one of the first things I did was drink water.  And drink more water.  And drink still more water.  Water at that time felt so good.  I drank for two reasons.  One, that it felt good, and two, because I know that left to my own sense of thirst I usually don’t drink enough of it when I run.  I knew my body needed more water than I would be inclined to give it.

Those images came to mind when I read Proverbs 25:25 the other day, in this week immediately after Easter.  It says,

"Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country."

Here we are, just a few days after Easter, where Christians mark the defining event of all human history, the death-and resurrection of Jesus.  And in a sense, Easter, more than anything else, is very much "good news from a far country." 

In Easter we have the culmination of the earthly life of Jesus.  God incarnate, laying aside His deity, coming from a place of glory that our imaginations can’t do justice to, living among us and ultimately laying down His life, so that one day we can live in His very presence. 

More than mere "good news" this is the best of news.  And in a manner similar to my drinking water after the race, taking more than I need to satisfy my thirst, this news of Jesus for my salvation, is something I shouldn’t be easily satisfied with, but something I should seek again and again. 

The world is full of thirsty souls.  May they find and know true satisfaction, which only comes through Jesus.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.