Weekend Reflections 3/21/14

For what do we thirst?

In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?” (Exodus 17:3ff.)

The people of Egypt rebelled against God and against Moses. They said, “We are thirsty and without water we will die!” If our thirst is not slaked we can become desperate, we can rebel, we can die!

But what is it that quenches out thirst? What is it that can be a spring rising to everlasting life? What is the “miracle” that we need?

All sorts of people seek all sorts of miracles — from God, from Jesus. But it is as if Jesus says, “There is only one miracle, really! There is only one miracle that can quench your thirst forever.”

Here is the miracle, the thing you cannot explain, you could not expect, you could not reason to, that is beyond all imagining.  Here is the miracle, Jesus says: God loves you!

Only when I experience this miracle, do the other signs make sense. Only when I accept this miracle can I experience life to the full. Only when I see that God’s love and care is beyond all I could ever expect or imagine, will I rest content and satisfied — for then I will have all I need.