The right aim to handle thirst

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. – Psalms 42:1 (TLB)

There may seem to be no way out when it comes to mentally surviving in our world; perhaps more specifically right here in America. There is unemployment (that leads to loss of homes, automobiles, rise in crime rates, etc), natural disasters, the ongoing war against terrorism, murders, child abuse, and the list could go and on. Just what do you do when all around, there is nothing but chaos and more chaos? How can you mentally [as well as physically] survive? Well, Jesus provided a way out when he said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” For a long time, I hadn’t noticed how several translations used the prepositions for and after differently in Jesus’ infamous 6th beatitude. The New American Standard (NAS) and the New International Version (NIV) record Matthew 5: 6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” However, the King James Version (KJV) expresses the same thought but with the use of the preposition after. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.” There is something here to re-think through!

The word for is used to 1) indicate the object, aim, or purpose of an action or activity, 2) indicate a destination, 3) indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, 4) indicate equivalence or equality, and 5) indicate correlation or correspondence. Seemingly just the opposite in meaning, the word after is described as: a) behind in place or order, b) in quest or pursuit, c) subsequent to and because of or regardless of, d) following continually, and e) next to and or lower than in order of importance. Yet, if you go back and you’ll see that Jesus was saying that our aim is to be in a right relationship with God; so just as you would desire to have food and water in order to live, you should have that same desire for knowing God.

So, Psalm 42, is an appeal for rescue, a call to worship, a confession of sin, and encouragement to trust God. So, both the words after and for define an individual’s priorities for living side by side with God. Again, what to do about mentally surviving in a cruel world? A non-believer can come to grip with sin and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Then there is an invitation to receive the Holy Spirit; for it is who identifies what can be most emotional aliment – depression. One antidote for depression is to meditate on the record of God’s goodness to his people. This particular move could take your mind off present situation as you focus (aim) your thoughts on God’s ability to help you rather than on your inability to help yourself. Perhaps a good start would be to become thirsty. See it this way.

Are you thirsty? I’m not talking about grabbing a Sprite from the vending machine or if you are a health fanatic, apple juice with no additives, but a true thirst. A thirst that supersedes you. A thirst that consumes you. Is your heart longing for something? Something that job or degree doesn’t give. Something that you’re true love can’t give. Your soul longs for something that nothing of this physical world can fulfill. We try to fill this void with other things that cannot satisfy our inner self. Our inner selves are formed and fashioned by the spiritual.

We are spiritual beings encompassed by a house of flesh. We search for truth in the wrong places, in the flesh! The flesh cannot provide us with any relief from our parchness, only God can. He is spirit and truth. In His grace and mercy, he sent his beloved Son to die on the cross for our corruptible flesh so that he could give us the words that are spirit and life. Our hearts thirst and long for the living God. He wants our inner selves to be filled, so that we would have life and life more abundantly. Where a predator chases the deer, it seeks water so that its scent can be lost. Matthew 5:6 drives the nail home! A person is blessed whenever the determination is to seek God – just like the deer runs to the water to out smart the enemy. Selah