The fall of my ninth-grade football season gave rise to what I remember as a real, barely quenchable thirst. Football season started regardless of the scorching and sweltering summer sun bearing down, and ever reluctant to give way to a cool and brisk fall.
One distinct day that season, probably one of the first days of full pads, I remember being so thirsty it hurt. We had just finished some drills and were sent over to the water sleds–PVC pipes with holes cut out so that, when the water was turned on, they shot a nice, cool stream of water vertically, ready to quench the thirst of many a thirsty player.
Since that day, water has satisfied every insatiable thirst, whether from physical exhaustion or just waking up each morning.
Indeed, we were created as dependent beings, and thirst reminds us of this most intensely. The problems arise when, seeking to satisfy our desires, we find ourselves consistently turning to the wrong wells: relationships, jobs, education, pleasure, men’s approval, and more.
If I had not been careful during my freshman year of football, I might have succumbed to heat exhaustion or worse. If I had turned to other sources to quench my thirst, it would have been terrible. The coaches had made it clear that the only place to get water was at the water sleds. My body needed H2O, and one source would bring satisfaction.
In the same way, God designed us holistically (body and soul) to thirst for Him. Our unbreakable relationship with Him by grace through faith in the person and work of Christ alone satisfies us. While we might enjoy other relationships to things, people, and more, God alone enables us to truly engage in them. In other words, our satisfaction with God means I’m not dependent on any person or thing for satisfaction.
But there’s a problem. We forget about our relationship with God. We run to temporal pleasures, positions, and more, thinking they will meet our needs and give us an identity that only God can. Still, there’s another problem: we don’t run to God. We default, sadly, to self. We set aside our time in the Word, prayer, and serving and loving our family, church, and neighbors. In a word, we get distracted.
Therefore, the reality is that “…we don’t default to discipline; we decide to be disciplined.”
God indeed created us for desires that only He satisfies, and David, in Psalm 63, shows us how to have our deepest desires met. Look to how he puts it, “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
Three Observations:
- God is the Source of David’s soul-thirst.
- David’s soul and flesh (physical body) also long for God.
- David is surrounded by deficiency, likely physical.
Three Implications:
- Relational Proximity: Because David was in a relationship with God, he could say, “…my God.”
- Holistic Need: God is the Source for both our physical and spiritual needs.
- Circumstantial Challenges: Our environment does not limit God’s ability to meet us right where we are.
Three Applications:
- Align your heart with God by walking in confession and holiness.
- 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
- 2 Corinthians 7:1: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
- Attend to your physical and spiritual needs equally.
- Luke 10:27: “And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’”
- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
- Don’t let your circumstances dictate your trust in God and faithfulness in the present.
- 1 John 1:9: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
- Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
Gospel Application
On the cross, Christ said, “…I thirst.” In those moments of agony, it was not only physical thirst that Christ endured, but also the mysterious separation from the Father. Christ’s thirst was not satisfied, so that He (by His atoning sacrifice) would satisfy our deepest thirst: a reconciled relationship with God. Christ accomplished our redemption through His life on the cross, so that He might apply all the benefits of fellowship with God to us through faith in Him. He satisfies our deepest need, and so we can live content in plenty or in want.
Life presents many challenges and intriguing distractions, promising us satisfaction. However, we have the Source of our desires in us as Christians, we have His Word to guide us in daily life, and we have access to the throne room in Christ. God sent forth His Son, our Source of Life. Let’s turn to the Well that never runs dry in any and all trials.
One Challenge:
Write down one area of your life where you are not finding satisfaction in God. Ask Him to increase your thirst for Him in that area daily.
God help us, Amen.
— May 14, 2026