I Thirst

Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

—John 19:28-30, NLT

Jesus was ready to give up His spirit. He knew His work on the Cross was almost complete. He declared, “I am thirsty.”  They gave Him sour wine in a sponge and held it to His lips. Tasting it, he said the most important words in history, “It is finished.”  And He was gone—but only temporarily. Jesus had just defeated hell, sin, and the grave. He would rise again soon.

I think of His words, “I thirst,” this morning and wonder how He must have felt—dying for me on the Cross in unbearable pain so I might have a new life. Fluids drained from His body—His sodium level crashing. My heart goes out to my Savior.  My sodium level crashing is nothing like the horror He experienced. My thirst could never be as His.  

My thirst is great. I’m on restricted intakes of fluids. Each day presents another work of the Holy Spirit in my life. Jesus is slowly revealing new insights in His Word.  I may thirst physically now. But my spiritual thirst is for all He has for my life. I want to take Him all in. He has finished His work for all time. I am healed by the precious blood of the Lamb.

Hebrews 10:5-7 reads, “When Christ came into the world, he said to God, ‘You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin.’ Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God—as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”

Do you thirst for Him?  Really thirst for Him?  Trying to work hard to be forgiven accomplishes nothing. Your thirst then becomes what you are able to offer. God was only pleased with the life of Son. Our offerings for redemption will never work. The work on the Cross has already been accomplished. Only the Grace of Jesus sets you free. He came to fulfill the will of His Father.

“For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time” (Hebrews 10:10, NLT).

If your thirst is great enough, then that is all you need. Learn what He has accomplished on the Cross for you. Learn what freedom is from the old life and the old law that He has canceled for all time. Learn that “I thirst” means “I live.”

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/05/i-thirst.html