Food and Water

Recently Mandy and I along with our boys spent 5 days in Tulsa Oklahoma visiting my family. Each time I have made this trip, I have realized that food is a huge part of the visit. We are a large close-knit family and we love to eat (as I guess all large close-knit families do). My crew alone had seven mouths, or better yet, stomachs to feed. Then there was my two parents, my three brothers, my sister-in-law and a very cute 1 month old nephew. If you are counting, there were 14 mouths/stomachs to feed while we were in town. That is a lot of food.
When the feast was over we had to wash all that food down with something and throwing in all the playing we did out in the heat and humidity that Oklahoma so graciously provides and the gallons of liquid we had to consume really began to buildup. At the end of it all, it is easy to see that we are a very hungry and thirsty bunch.
However, there is one other thing that I have noticed on these trips. Not only are we hungry and thirsty in our bodies we are a spiritually hungry and thirsty group as well. Each of us is in love with Jesus. We are a blended family but our loving Savior has grafted us together just as he has the Gentile and Jewish families. Today we serve Him individually, in our separate households and as a whole family. We hunger and thirst together. It is a beautiful thing and we are all blessed for it.
The Gospel of John, in the fourth chapter, speaks of those who thirst and hunger after Him. Speaking to a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in Sychar Samaria Jesus says in verses 13 and 14, "'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'". Later in the chapter in verse 34 Jesus says to his Disciples, "'My food...is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work'". Jesus goes on to speak of harvesting the fields that have been sown and reaping the benefits of the labor that has already been done.
When I look upon my family, I see a family longing for His living water, to do the will of Him who sent them and to finish His work. We are not a perfect family by any means. We have had to learn some hard lessons, but through them, we have all grown...grown thirsty and grown hungry. Today we are closer than ever and we are growing even faster. God has completed a lot in us and still has a lot to complete but we are willing to consume the food and drink He offers.
My imploration for those who read this is the same. Thirst for Jesus' living water. Hunger to do his will and to finish His work. As His children we have access to His Kingdom and all that it possesses. Eternal life is ours if we will take it. Yes, there is work to do. Yes, we must labor, we must toil. However, we do not do so as the world does. Our labor and our toil is a blessing. It is a blessing to Him as it is our obedience to His loving command. It is a blessing to those the work benefits for they are His children in need. It is a blessing to us as it is our worshipful connection to His heart.
Also in John 4 Jesus says in verses 23 and 24, "'Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth'". Jesus has brought life to each of us. His grace and His mercy has been extended to us in a most loving manner and it comes in the satisfaction of our great thirst and hunger. He satisfies as we worship in spirit. He quenches as we worship in truth. We offer our all to Him in deed and in rest. We lay down what the world says we own so that in truth rightful ownership is restored to Him who provides our every need.
If you thirst, if you hunger, do so no longer. Offer your worship in spirit and in truth. Obediently walk the path He has laid out for you. Seek Him. As has been true for my family there will be difficult lessons to learn along the way. In the end, however, your thirst will be satisfied with living water and your hunger will be satisfied through the fulfillment of His will and His work.
To my family I say, thank you for the wonderful visit and I look forward to many more memories as we walk our path to the Father in Spirit and Truth eating and drinking at His table together. Spiritually speaking...bottoms up and what’s for desert :). I love you!