“If anyone is thirsty,

let him come to me.”

— John 7:37

Jesus spoke these wonderful words on the last day of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. In these words, Jesus points the way to a refreshed heart. He shows us that he himself is the way. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me.” Jesus had been teaching in the temple courts for several days. The crowds of people had been drinking in his words. He saw their parched hearts, their thirsty souls, the longing in their eyes to be refreshed, to be joyful again. The staleness of formalized religion had left them searching for a new reality of God. In the depths of their hearts, they knew God was more than what they were experiencing, so they came to the feast. Some no doubt came out of duty, others thirsting and hoping for more. It’s to these thirsty ones that Jesus offers an invitation, an invitation to come to him, to drink and be satisfied.

What about Jesus is so refreshing? How can he make such a promise? It seems arrogant and unrealistic. The answer is simple: he is God. He sends refreshing rain to water the earth, He creates the cool of the evening to soothe the heat-parched world. As he refreshes the earth, so he refreshes our hearts. He created our hearts in the first place and knows what restores us. He is the God who has the power to quench thirst.

His refreshment begins with forgiveness.. He died on the cross to pay for your sin. If you trust him to forgive your sin and be your savior, your sin is taken away. Jesus will place his refreshing spirit in you and begin to satisfy the thirst of your heart.

 I urge you to seek him. Many people will go anywhere but to Jesus to satisfy their thirsty souls. The reasons for this are varied. Sometimes we simply don’t believe Jesus can refresh us. Sometimes we are determined to live independently of God, to make it on our own, to prove to God that we are gods ourselves. Whatever our reasons in the past, Jesus’ invitation still stands. He still says today, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me.”

Prayer Starter: Lord, please teach my heart that you are the thirst quencher.