“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God” (Ps. 42:1-2).
Let us take a look at this verse and compare it to ourselves, our lives. God has made the human family to be creatures of choice with the chance to choose good or evil. It seems that we are born with hole inside of us that only God can fill, and we spend much of our life trying to fill that hole. I think that all men’s souls are longing for a drink from God’s fountain of life.
When we reach the age of understanding, we realize that there is something missing in our heart. Then we have a choice. Our soul is panting after God. Do we fill it with God, or do we fill it with the things that satisfy self? There are many times that we must make a choice about what we are going to fill our heart with.
As we get to our teen years, we face many choices about what we are going to fill our heart with—cars, work, money, technology, etc. Satan is working very hard to keep our attention turned away from the thirst inside by keeping us busy outside. It seems the busier we get, the larger the hole in our heart becomes. We try filling that hole with the things Satan is offering. But somehow, the satisfaction we thought we would find never comes. The fountain we are drinking at is not satisfying our thirst. We have not been willing to let go of what we want to let our soul drink of the water of life.
There was a news article a while ago about the trash problem in the Pacific Ocean. On a certain island, the shore birds were dying because the trash was driving away and killing a lot of the bait fish and shore creatures the birds needed for food. The article showed pictures of bird’s skeletons filled with trash. Mother birds were feeding their babies trash along with some nourishment. After a while, the birds became full of trash and could not hold enough nourishing food. They died with a full feeling, but they were empty.
How many of us are like these birds? Our lives are full of stuff, but our hearts are empty. We have spent a lot of time feeding from the things of the world, and our souls are left dry and parched.
When we get that empty, dry feeling inside, let’s look up instead of out. Looking out will only make us thirstier; looking up will turn our attention away from the things that have caused our thirst and will help us to see the fountain of life.
From Messenger of Truth, 2019, No. 21
