Thirsty Yet?

Between 2015 and 2019, God took me to Israel seven times. What all God did in those trips is a story (or two!) for another time. But in those seven trips to His land, other than God Himself, the one constant was Irene Levy.

Irene was 96 when I met her. From America, Irene crossed the ocean to Lebanon, traveled to Jordan, and finally reached her beloved Israel where she stayed until God took her Home a few weeks ago.

When the world shut down in 2020, travel here was not an option. Life events for me and my family kept me from traveling at all for another two years. Until now.

When I heard Irene had gone Home, my heart hurt at another loss. Irene so reflected her Lord Jesus that she brought joy to every person she encountered. At 103, she graduated to Glory.

Her memorial service was scheduled for two weeks after we celebrated the life of my 50 year old cousin. I began preparations to go. God made it clear now was the time to return.

Over the seven trips to Israel, I made friends with a young lady who later met and married an Israeli. They had a son about three months ago. Visiting Esther and Brian was on the top of my list of things to do once the service for Irene was past.

As with the previous trips, I watched God put pieces together as He orchestrated my arrival and another of Irene’s friend’s arrival. We journeyed together from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee. And there I was able to visit Esther, Brian, and baby Levi.

Thirsty Like A Baby

While we adults sat talking, Levi decided to get our attention. As all babies do, he let his needs be known. While his mother fed him, he eagerly took in the nourishment he needed. And Esther’s comment caught my attention.

”When he is with me, he has no reason to be upset, because I am the source of his milk.”

Here’s what I heard. “If only we would rest in our Lord the way Levi rests in his mother, we would be full of peace and never be afraid.” Esther supplied all Levi needed. And his thirst drove him to want to be with her.

Are we thirsty yet? Scripture says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2, KJV). Do we do that? As Esther said, Levi wants her milk all day long. Do we desire God’s word all day long?

Blessed When Thirsting

The day after holding baby Levi, I got to go to the Mount of Beatitudes. Once again God put this thought in my mind. Am I thirsty yet?

One of my favorite beatitudes says, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Mathew 5:6, KJV). Not only am I to thirst for God’s word, but I’m to thirst after righteousness. And our faithful Father promises to fill us if we will only thirst for that which pleases Him.

Thirst is about much more than water. Yet Jesus chose to use water as an analogy for Himself when He said, “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14 NKJV).

Everlasting life. “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3, NKJV).

Are we thirsty yet?

As I’ve watched God work once again in amazing ways, bringing me here, reminding me of His great love for me, and remembering His work of grace in my life all these years, I know for sure He wants me to be thirsty. For Him. God’s word is where we learn of Jesus. And God wants me to desire His word the way Levi thirsted for his mother’s milk. Jesus is the righteous One. And if we hunger and thirst after righteousness, God promises He will fill us. With Himself. Amazing.

Lord willing, may we thirst for Jesus, the righteous One, our living water. May we thirst for the word of God, and may Jesus, the living word, bring us to a point we’ll never thirst again.

Are we thirsty yet?

(Photos: Taken by Carolyn Thigpen, March 2023, Hermon Stream Nature Reserve and Mount of Beatitudes, Israel.)