And now I begin laying the most difficult corner of the building. I cannot do this work through my own human efforts. Yet this corner is essential, because it is directly connected to Heaven and very quickly receives everything that has been promised and is needed. I can speak about this, but I must also experience it.
We read: ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled’ (Matthew 5:6).
Thirst is the body’s signal to the brain that there is a shortage of water in the body. The greater the shortage, the stronger the signal.
There are several kinds of thirst.
Physical thirst is a strong desire to drink. Hunger, when a person intensely desires food, may also be included in this category.
Emotional thirst is a strong desire to receive from God what you need and also to be needed by someone—to be close and useful to that person. This kind of thirst also includes the desire to have a friend nearby who likewise needs you and is helpful to you, or the desire to share what you receive from Jesus.
A thirst for information is characterized by the realization that the knowledge and information you already possess do not satisfy your mind. You therefore begin searching for a source of information that will supply and satisfy this need.
Dependence is a strong need to perform certain actions or an emotional or physical attachment to something or someone.
Spiritual thirst is an understanding of your spiritual poverty—a realization that your spirit lacks knowledge, revelation, nourishment, a sense of belonging, and the opportunity to use your abilities properly for the good of others. As a result, anxiety and uneasiness arise.
Knowing that you belong to God, living in harmony with His will, and obeying His requirements bring peace and joy. Yet the soul thirsts for greater blessings; it desires to grow and seeks an opportunity to do so.
Christ taught that everyone who thirsts for righteousness will be filled and will be happy. With these words, He promised that, at the proper time, such thirst would be satisfied and that everyone who asks would receive what he asks for.
I thirst. By saying this, I acknowledge before God my miserable condition, which I am powerless to change on my own. I cannot give myself what I do not possess and cannot produce. The greater my thirst, the more persistent my requests become and the stronger my desire to receive what I ask for.
Jesus offers us Himself, saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.’ He calls Himself the Source of living water, making it clear that only He can satisfy those who thirst spiritually.
The problem of our time is that we are not merely full but overfilled—and idle as well. Never before have people had such an abundance of information, opportunities, revelations, inventions, technology, and freedom. All of this serves our good, but when there is too much of it, the soul ceases to value what it has been given.
We have such tremendous opportunities to learn spiritual truth that, with a light touch of a finger on a smartphone screen, we can obtain all kinds of answers to every question that concerns us.
The saddest part is that I become lost in this inexhaustible stream and begin thinking that I am full, that I have everything, and that, for the most part, I need nothing more. Then frightening statements are heard: ‘How much longer can this go on? How much longer must we listen to this? It is always the same thing. I already know all of this.’
But Jesus states very clearly that I do not even know that I am wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. He is not mistaken in His assessment. He also offers the solution, which is found only in Him, in Revelation 3:18.
Have you ever experienced genuine thirst or hunger—when you would have surrendered everything most valuable and precious for one sip of water, and when you had no goal other than that sip? Unfortunately, many people have no experience even of this, because abundance surrounds us everywhere. You turn on the faucet and water flows, even if it is not always clean.
There is a great difference among people who beg for alms. Some are truly hungry, while others are full or overfed. A very hungry person will quickly convince me that he is in need, and he will be grateful for any amount of help. If I have something to give, I will not be able to resist the hungry person’s plea, and I will help him.
God promises to pour out His Spirit upon us, but on the condition that He pours it upon those who are thirsty and upon the dry ground.
‘For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring’ (Isaiah 44:3).
The Lord has promised, and He will fulfill His promise. But the fulfillment of this promise for me depends directly upon my thirst. God knows how to distinguish thirst from overindulgence.
Let us take an example from our own lives.
It takes me about two hours to write these lines of a single message about love or happiness. The Lord sends me a thought and expects me to clothe it in words. I try to present the very essence of the lesson as briefly as possible, and I ask for help from above—and that help is given. When the message is ready, I make it available for everyone to read. I rejoice that I can serve you at least in this way, hoping that the lesson, like a seed, will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.
I know that some people see a long text, simply scroll past it, and sometimes even become irritated by it. Then it disappears forever among other messages. Yet I have spent part of my life to give the best and most valuable things I possess—my time and my heart. Some honestly admit to me: ‘You know, I do not read what you write because I am always in a hurry, or because it does not interest me. But I am glad that you are consistent. Keep going, brother!’
This was only one specific example from our lives, and it does not trouble me. I simply do what I must do on my part. I rejoice that I can serve God and you in at least this way, my friends. I am greatly encouraged by brief messages telling me that my words have helped someone and proved useful. But my greatest joy is that I give God the opportunity to use me to reveal to others what He has given me and taught me. Whether you need it is for you to decide. If you have no thirst, then even if an angel from Heaven were to speak, his words would be only one more stream of information among those that have already overfilled your soul.
I thirst. This is a cry to Heaven that will not remain unanswered. God is looking for thirsty souls so that He may pour out His blessings upon them and fill them. He has something to give us. He loves us, and out of His great love He gives to us.
He also warns that He Himself will send upon the Earth—not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, but a hunger for hearing the words of the Lord. People will wander from sea to sea and will not find them. It will be a terrible time.
If there is no thirst, then we must ask for it, and we will receive it. God will create circumstances in which I recognize my condition and become thirsty.
Blessed are those who continually thirst and seek after righteousness, for they will continually be filled.
After reading this lesson, try to produce some kind of thirst within yourself, and you will see that it is impossible. But when the heart experiences a deficiency, it very quickly reports it to the mind. As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for the Lord.
If you have noticed that you feel drawn to study the next lesson, that is a good sign, and there is Hope that you will receive more than you thirst for.
This corner provides a powerful charge of energy and driving force to the entire structure, because it is directly connected to the Source of life and happiness. Without it, I lose a great deal forever by refusing to receive what is offered for my own happiness.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Matthew 5:6; Isaiah 44:3; 55:1; Psalm 42:2; 63:1; 107:9; 119:74; Amos 8:11–13; John 4:14; Revelation 21:6; 22:17