Hungering and Thirsting After God

By Joe Keim

November 1, 2007

Do you ever find yourself not being able to sleep at night because you want more of God in your life? Do you find yourself hungering and thirsting for a much deeper, stronger, and a more real relationship with the Lord? Has it ever become so important to you that you laid down on the floor and wept until the floor around you was wet?

David also experienced these same kind of desires and emotions: In Psalms 42:1-2, he writes, As the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

In this portion of scripture, we can sense the deep cry of a man that can't seem to get enough of His Lord. It is the voice of a believer, under depressions, longing for the renewal of the heavenly presence, struggling with doubts and fears, and yet holding his ground by faith in the living God. With out a doubt, most of the Lord's family has sailed on the sea which is so clearly described in this chapter of Psalms.

In Psalms 61:1-2, David continues to cry out to God: Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

When Jesus preached the sermon on the mount, He said...Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Righteousness is the only thing that will fill and satisfy man's innermost need. Food and drink will not. Any honest and thinking person knows there is nothing anywhere on this earth that can meet his deep need for life (permanent life, life that never ends). Only God can fill a life and satisfy the deep need for permanent life.

I love what Isaiah 55:1 says: Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye...

How wonderful it is to know that we can come to the waters of the Living God, just as we are-imperfect, undeserving, and unworthy-and drink.

Oh, and it's totally free and always plenty to go around for everyone.

Keywords: amish, amish voice, christian living, joe keim, map ministry, mission to amish people, relationship with god