I Thirst!

Daily Reading: 2 Samuel 23

Scripture Focus: Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate! (2 Samuel 23.15)

Devotional Thought: In today’s chapter, 2 Samuel 23, we find the mighty men of David, men who distinguished themselves by their courageous and selfless service to the king. Among them were three men who “broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David.” They did this because David longed to be refreshed from the waters of that well. Consider David’s words as if they were being spoken today by our King, Jesus.

Just as the Philistines had captured the city of Bethlehem, wielding control over its inhabitants, so the enemy of God’s people has ensnared and captured the world today. Our nation is in the grip of an insidious enemy. As I watched the news last night, my heart was broken by the sad stories of how heroin is capturing, controlling and ultimately killing people. Every year, thousands lose their lives to heroin overdoses. Besides the deaths, there are thousands more who have fallen under the control of the drug and are in great despair. The heart of Jesus is thirsty for the rescue of these souls.

On the cross, Jesus cried out, “I thirst!” Yes, he was physically thirsty, but I believe, too, that his soul within him longed with love for those souls bound for hell, trapped by sin. Many of these souls, are trapped behind enemy lines, held by addiction, crime, and futility. They don’t even know how to choose right. They are waiting, and Jesus is calling, for mighty men and women of God to break through the enemy lines and bring them to Jesus.

Who will be a mighty man/woman of Jesus?

Prayer: O Lord, help me to feel your thirst and to know your hunger for the souls of the lost. Help me to break through the enemy lines and bring them to you. Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 106.6-12

6 Both we and our fathers have sinned;

we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.

7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,

did not consider your wondrous works;

they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,

but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake,

that he might make known his mighty power.

9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,

and he led them through the deep as through a desert.

10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe

and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.

11 And the waters covered their adversaries;

not one of them was left.

12 Then they believed his words;

they sang his praise.