A Matter of Degrees

Nobody starves to death suddenly. Nobody dies of thirst within moments of having their last drink. Both fates (starvation & dehydration) are slow deaths where your life slips away a little at a time. And as such, both can be alleviated by simply consuming food and water. That's not to say it is easy nor do I seek to minimize the plight of people in a barren land. I speak only of the relative ease with which starvation can be relieved with food and dehydration with water.

My passage today speaks to this condition; starvation and dehydration. Consider...
"They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away." (Psalm 107:5, NIV)

Of course, this speaks of the wandering Hebrew people who in their sinfulness were condemned to wander in the desert for 40 years. But it is no less true today for the millions of people who reject the food of God's Word and the living water of Jesus Christ. Though these people may eat three sumptuous meals each day, though they may immerse themselves in water and drink till they are satiated, their souls are starving to death. Their life withers even as they sit at a banquet table.

Many such people recognize their plight but do not recognize the solution. Some resign themselves to this condition and reject any prescription. Still others are so hungry and so thirsty that they deceive themselves into thinking they are healthy and happy and so pass right by the thing that they most need. They are hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebb away.

One of the most important tasks that I have as a Christian is be looking for any such people. To look past their appearance, to look past their circumstances and to see them as God does. Which means that I seek to peer into their very souls to see if there I find hunger and thirst. And in those instances where I am given insight and recognize the signs, I am to offer them an invitation, provide them transportation and accompany them to the banquet table that is prepared by my Master Lord God.

I am charged by Christ Jesus to feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked, heal the sick, give hope to the captives and to share the water of Life that is the Gospel with all men. I want to share the communion table with all that they may no longer be hungry and thirsty but instead be healed.

Shalom,
Carl