On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”  John 7:37-38

Part of the ceremony for the Feast of Tabernacles was for the Jews to bring water from the Pool of Siloam and pour it into a silver basin at the altar. On the last day of the festival, Jesus watched His people participate in a ceremony rich with spiritual meaning, yet many remained unchanged within. They had handled the water and were still thirsty. In this setting, He said “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink.”

It is possible to engage zealously in religious exercise and never experience the Living Water, to leave as empty as when I came. If I come merely to observe, perform, or fulfill a religious habit, I can remain untouched while standing very near holy things. Perhaps one of the greatest dangers of religion is that I can become fluent in the language of thirst while forgetting what it feels like to actually be thirsty.

Jesus reveals the secret to life-change: spiritual thirst. But this usually offends the religious. Someone with little church history comes desperate for Jesus and experiences Him with a level of intimacy that lifelong churchgoers may never know. That’s because it has nothing to do with pedigree and everything to do with thirst.

The depth of my experience with Jesus is profoundly affected by how conscious I am of my need for Him. Need is not a liability in the kingdom of God. It is the doorway.

The self-impressed live differently. They may know Scripture, understand doctrine, and take pride in their spiritual heritage while remaining strangely untouched by the God they claim to know. Familiarity with the scriptures become dangerous when it convinces me that proximity and knowledge is intimacy. I must come empty-handed.

And this is the scandal of grace: poor, thirsty sinners walk away with the treasure ~ who is Jesus.

I am a barren land without your visitation.  Amen