John 7:37
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

If we thirst, we may come. When that deep longing for something more than the deadness that sin can offer rises up within us, all we need to do is turn to Christ to be completely satisfied. He is our wellspring rising up in the midst of the barrenness, an oasis in the desert of our wandering. Thirst is one of those things that becomes an all-consuming kind of focus. It puts us a little on edge. It weakens us a little bit. And isn’t it true that nothing can quite quench our thirst like water, something pure in and of itself, undefiled, uncontaminated?

Jesus is that purity that we long for. There is never the disappointment of seeking what we so desperately need only to find it empty or lacking. There is only the satisfaction of cool, thirst-quenching water bringing life back to us. When all the wrongness within us threatens to overwhelm us, when the dirt of sin chokes us, when the artificial sweetness of fleshly desires only leaves us wanting more, there stands Jesus, pure and holy, eager to satisfy our every longing. Because He bids us not just to come and be near Him, but to drink—to partake of all that He is, to put on His own righteousness, to bear His likeness, to become one with the Father through Him.

Jesus never casts us away. Those who turn away do so willingly. Those who die in their sins make a choice to pursue them instead of God. They drink the poison of Satan’s lies when the antidote is crying out to them, urging them to choose life instead of death. Let’s turn away from our sins and turn to Jesus. Let’s pour out whatever it is we’ve been clinging to and bring our cups empty to Jesus’ feet and allow our lives to be filled up with Him.

It’s easy to forget what it’s like to be thirsty. It’s a feeling that doesn’t linger long after it has been satisfied. But it’s also something that can come back if we don’t keep ourselves hydrated. Let us come, then, even if we’ve come before and received salvation, and drink of the water of life Jesus offers to us. At times we need refreshing. All that enticed us to Jesus in the first place is still true about Him no matter how long we’ve served Him. Perhaps we’ve wandered. Perhaps our thirst for Him has diminished. Perhaps we just need to come close and drink.