A few young Christians that I know were talking amongst themselves about a fellow student. They’re all in college, and they are quite familiar with my views on how dependent they all are on social media. I recognize that social media has been a wonderful tool to spread the Word of God, but there are many downsides as well. Talk about ‘big brother watching’, we don’t make it difficult for them at all. There’s hardly anything that young folks (and older folks too) won’t share on one of the many social media outlets that are out there. Well, it so happened that the young Christians were talking about another young woman who had shared something on social media that was totally inappropriate for any woman, Christian or not. They made the comment that this particular young lady only behaves this way when she is around ‘boys’. They referred to her as being ‘thirsty’, a word that has a very sexually suggestive meaning in the vernacular of today.
By the mere tone they used, I knew they didn’t mean she was thirsty for a beverage to drink. They were describing her behavior as being desperate for the attention of a young man. I immediately thought to myself how the communication of today has changed. I must admit that I felt a little out of touch when I listened to these young folks discuss the world and how they see things. I thought about how we’ve taken something God created to be the purest of human needs and turned it into something sinful.
God says in Isaiah 55:1(NLT), “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free!” This is an invitation from God to all who will come and drink of His salvation. He tells us that it’s free, because there’s nothing you and I can do to earn it. Heavenly Father extends this invitation to everyone, but it is an invitation with a condition. The condition is that we must have a thirst for salvation. It’s not for those who drink from the wells of this world, controlled by the father of lies—the prince of darkness. It is an invitation to those who long for God’s eternal goodness and treasures.
Look at what the devil has done. Now, in some circles we can’t even mention the word ‘thirst’—a word God used to describe His blessed invitation to salvation—without conjuring up thoughts of promiscuity and sin. Oh, we’ve got to do better.
God said to His people in Deuteronomy 11:26-28 (NLT), “26 Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! 27 You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. 28 But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.” We’ve got to wake up and see the subtle, manipulating ways in which the devil is distorting things. All these little devious details add up. They cause people to look away from the goodness of God and walk straight into a curse. We must not allow the things of God to become perverted. We must reject this.
All who love God should be thirsty for Him, and we should desire to drink from His eternal fountain of living waters. It isn’t enough to say we need what God offers, for every person living and every person that has ever lived needs salvation. All of us need God, but He requires that we want Him. We should yearn to be in His presence, because He’s our Heavenly Father.
Anyone can offer us something to drink, but only God can give us living water. Only God can give us what we need. And the only way to get to the Father is through His Son, Jesus Christ. He tells us in John 14:6 that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no person can come to God unless they come to God through him. So, we must pray continually for our young people, that they will not be tricked so easily to mistake their thirst for life in the Spirit for life in the flesh. Let us pray they recognize that temporary pleasures yield absolutely nothing, and what they are truly thirsting for is to know God in the depths of their hearts through the Lord Jesus Christ. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Something to Drink Anyone?” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.