[December 19]
If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. John 7:37
OUR text is quite in line with the lesson intimated—that
before anyone can come to the Lord he must
thirst, he must have an appreciation of that which the
Lord has to give—the water, the refreshment, of eternal
life.
This means that he must learn that he is a
sinner, and under sentence of death, and that there
is no hope for a future life except through Christ.
The coming to the Lord is the approach of faith.
Our
thirst is our desire.
We drink, or appropriate to ourselves
the divine message.
"Sanctify them through
thy truth; thy Word is truth."
Water is the symbol
of truth.
The promise of a blessing to those who
"hunger and thirst after righteousness" is in full accordance
with this.
And the promise is, "They shall
be filled."
This, too, is in harmony with our Lord's
statement in our lesson, "Whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him shall never thirst." Z'08-44 R4132:4 (Hymn 290)