ON THE NIGHT HE WAS BETRAYED, Jesus instituted what we call the Lord’s Supper. In abstract theological language he could have said, “I am about to become the propitiation for sin. It is only through substitutionary atonement that God can be just and the one who justifies the guilty.”
That would have been true, but his disciples would have been left scratching their heads. Jesus understood the power of metaphor. He used figures of speech that made ideas more vivid and alive to people’s minds and hearts. Jesus didn’t use abstract ideas to communicate the truth we need to hear. He used imagery that we understand.
He said: “I am the vine. If you abide in me, you will bear much fruit.” His followers saw grape vines all the time. A cluster of grapes can’t live disconnected from the vine. It has no life in itself. The grapes will dry up and blow away if they are cut off from the vine. The point is clear: staying connected to Christ is vital for us.
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd.” “I am the light of the world.” “I am the bread of life.” When you read all these metaphors, you might ask, “Which one are you, Jesus? Are you the vine, the shepherd, the light, or the bread?” But all of those metaphors help us to grasp the truth about who Jesus is and what it means to be united to him by faith.
Think a bit more about Jesus as the bread. In John 6, the Apostle John told the story of Jesus feeding five thousand people from a boy’s lunch of five loaves of bread and two small fish. People were hungry. There was nowhere nearby that Jesus could send them to buy food for themselves. So he miraculously multiplied that boy’s lunch and fed a huge crowd. There were about five thousand men, in addition to women and children – that’s a lot of people to feed. When they had all eaten their fill, the people were amazed. They were ready to make Jesus king by force. So he quietly slipped away from them. But the next day, they came looking for him. They were hungry again, and a man who could feed them miraculously would be a great king.
When they found Jesus, he said to them:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.”
“Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’
“They responded by asking Jesus what sign he would give them so they could believe him. They said, ‘Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’. Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’
“They said, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’
“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not go hungry and whoever believes in me shall never thirst’ ” (John 6:26-35).
They didn’t understand what he was talking about because they didn’t understand who he was. They were looking for another Moses who could give them what the people received after the Exodus from Egypt – food they didn’t have to work for. Jesus was offering them something much better. It was food they wouldn’t have to work for, but food that would satisfy a deeper hunger.
Their forefathers had been fed in the desert by God, who provided a kind of bread for the people every morning – manna. Bread, even supernaturally provided bread, satisfies hunger for a while. But people need something more than physical bread. There is a hunger in our souls that nothing in this world can satisfy.
On another occasion, Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37b-38).
Do you understand what Jesus was talking about? Do you know what it means to be hungry or thirsty for something that can’t be satisfied by anything this world can give you?
What are you hungry for?
When Jesus says “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink,” it sounds like he’s inviting people who don’t yet know him as Savior and Lord to come to faith. It is true that sinful people are hungry and thirsty and that they try to satisfy their longings in sinful ways:
Some people are hungry for power — they have to be in control.
Greed is a kind of hunger or thirst. Greed says, “I will really be happy if I just have a little more than I have now.” Anger often reveals a deep hunger — a demand to have things my way. Lust is a kind of hunger. Men and women do all kinds of destructive things to find satisfaction for that hunger.
But it’s not just unsaved, lost people who are hungry and thirsty. If you pass off what the Bible says about being hungry and thirsty to people who are chasing after sex or drugs or alcohol or gluttony, you will end up missing something that you need to see about yourself. We are all hungry, thirsty people, trying to find satisfaction
for our hunger and thirst in things that will not ultimately satisfy. Sin distorts our longings and the ways we seek satisfaction, but the things we hunger and thirst after are not necessarily sinful in themselves. We’re hungry for good things, legitimate pleasures, things God created and meant for us to enjoy:
We long for these good things:
- To be loved and valued by your parents.
- To be happily married to a man or woman who cares about you deeply.
- To enjoy good food.
- To have children who love you and want to be around you.
- To be able to get up day after day and actually enjoy going to work because it is exactly what you always wanted to do with your life.
- To be able to earn enough money to not have to worry about how you are going to pay the bills.
- To know that your life matters – that it makes a difference to someone that you have lived.
- To know you have used your gifts and abilities in a way that honors God.
- To be respected by people whose opinion matters to you.
These desires at times feel as strong as hunger or thirst. Sometimes these desires are actually stronger than your desire to eat. We spend our energy; we devote our strength and abilities to satisfying those hungers and thirsts. When you are thirsty, you can’t just ignore your thirst.
When Jesus used the language of hunger and thirst, he used words that should have been familiar to people who knew the Scriptures:
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live…” (Isaiah 55:1-2).
We are hungry people. We are thirsty people. We think if we can earn enough, we can buy what we need to satisfy our hunger and thirst. But we end up spending our money on things that don’t satisfy. We spend our hard work on things that don’t last. God comes and says, “Come to me, and I will give you food and drink that really satisfies. I will fill that hunger and satisfy that thirst in your soul. Come to me and find life.” And Jesus offered exactly the same thing. He offered himself as the one who can satisfy what our souls long for most deeply.
What do you desire?
If you are honest, what do you want more than anything? You know you’re supposed to say at this point, “I desire God more than anything.” But what do your disappointments suggest you are hungry for? What do your choices this past week suggest you are thirsting for?
God said to Israel: “My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).
He is not just describing people who have never come to faith in Christ. He’s describing us. This is what sinners do — even redeemed sinners. God offers himself as a pure, refreshing spring of water that gives life. We turn away and dig our own wells in an attempt to satisfy our thirsts without God. It usually takes a while, but sooner or later we discover that the wells we dig for ourselves can’t hold water. We take good things and elevate them to the place of ultimate things. We take legitimate, good desires like having children, being married, being financially secure, and being respected and make them the most important things in life.
Sooner or later we start to feel like something is still missing. When good things are elevated to the level of best things, they become idols — substitute gods. And false gods can’t meet real needs. It is one thing to be told that the wells we dig for ourselves won’t satisfy. It’s another thing to experience that emptiness for ourselves.
We agree intellectually with God’s assessment of our problem but that doesn’t mean we quit digging those wells. A fresh experience of disappointment is all it takes to expose the well digging in our hearts.
And it’s not like you figure this out at one point in your life and quit digging your own wells. Even as redeemed people this is our default tendency — this is what we do. We keep on digging our own wells to try to satisfy a thirst we feel inside rather than drinking from the spring of living water that God offers in himself.
“Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts, Thou fount of life, Thou light of men, from the best bliss that earth imparts, we turn unfilled to Thee again” (Bernard of Clairvaux).
The hymn writer did not deny the goodness of the things we pursue in this world. God has given us good things to enjoy. But even the “best bliss that earth imparts” leaves us unfilled. You have experienced that in one way or another. We all have some level of experience with the “best bliss that earth imparts” — tasty food, cold water on a hot day, good friendships, beautiful music, amazing sights. We experience moments of bliss, moments of satisfaction for legitimate longings. But those moments don’t last. The bliss fades. A longing deep inside is left unsatisfied. But we don’t instinctively do what Bernard of Clairvaux said: “we turn unfilled to Thee again.”
Instead, we turn unfilled to another attempt to satisfy our hunger and thirst by digging a new well to drink from.
We are all hungry, thirsty people who look to something other than God to satisfy our longings.
You know that’s true. You can affirm what I’m saying and nod your head in agreement, but how do we get our hearts to long for God Himself more than we long for other things?
A heart problem
What God said to Israel and what Jesus said to hungry and thirsty people is that he alone can satisfy our deepest hunger and thirst. We know that in our heads. It’s our hearts that deceive us over and over again.
Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
What you want most is what you treasure. Your heart will follow or chase after what you value most. If your heart values things that can be stolen or destroyed by rust or moths, you will be disappointed sooner or later. There’s only one safe place to lay up treasure – in heaven. And there is only one treasure that will truly and eternally satisfy your heart – God himself.
So how do you get your heart to that place? How do you change what you desire and long for?
Just telling yourself that you should desire something different won’t change your longings. You can’t change your heart by trying harder to long for God. Will power, making resolutions, and trying harder to discipline yourself will not change your heart’s desires.
But God can do what you are powerless to do. God can change the desires of your heart. The way God changes our desires is by the work of the Holy Spirit who quietly and gradually enables us to see Jesus as more desirable and beautiful than anything else. As God’s Spirit draws you and stirs your heart with longing for God, you begin to see the glory of Jesus in ways you did not see before.
Wouldn’t you love to be able to say what the psalmists say, and mean it:
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you” (Psalm 63:1-3).
“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:1-2).
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26).
“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you. The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore’” (Psalm 16:1-2,11).
You can’t make yourself thirsty for God. But you can ask God to change your heart and give you new longings. What about asking God to make you thirsty for him? You could pray something like this:
“Father, show me where I tend to turn away from you and dig my own wells. Let me see the truth about where I am trying to satisfy the thirst of my heart apart from you. Show me your beauty and glory. Show me the richness of your love. Show me how you are more to be desired than any of the things in life I look to for happiness. Make me thirsty for you.”
To have a deep hunger and thirst for God, you need to grow in understanding who he is. God’s Spirit shows you the beauty and glory of Jesus through the Scriptures. Ask God, as you read a section of Scripture, to show you something more of his majesty and glory and beauty.
“When [David] proclaimed, ‘Your love is better than life,’ he wasn’t saying ‘Your love makes life worth living’ or ‘With your love I can do anything;’ rather, he was saying, ‘I love being loved by you more than I love being alive.’ How does one’s heart come alive to this kind of relationship with God?
“…David wrote these words from a hot Judean desert at a time of great internal conflict and weariness. Among other heartaches, his own son Absalom sought to take David’s life. Difficult circumstances and hard providences often become a primary means by which the Holy Spirit quickens our thirst for the fountain that God alone can open up. No one and nothing but God can satisfy the cravings he has placed within the hearts of his children. We are our most sane and free when we live in light of this truth.
“Spurgeon spoke well when he said, ‘This is an insatiable longing after one of the essentials of life. There is no reasoning with this longing, no forgetting it, no despising it, no overcoming it by stoical indifference. Thirst will be heard. The whole person must yield to its power. So it is with the divine power that the grace of God creates. It is a gift to be thirsty for God’ ” (Scotty Smith, Objects of His Affection, p. 85-86).
Fight for joy
If God is the one who creates this kind of thirst for himself in your heart as a work of grace, asking him for that gift must become a regular part of our petitions in prayer. We need to ask God to do in our hearts what we are incapable of doing. And we need to plead with God to do this work of grace in our hearts daily.
When you hear John Piper preach or read one of his books, his passion for God is striking. So it’s a bit surprising to hear Dr. Piper say that he has to fight for joy every day. Here’s what he said about his struggle and about how he prays for God to work in his heart:
“Almost every day I pray early in the morning that God would give me desires for him and his Word, because the desires I ought to have are absent or weak…Here is the way I pray:
“INCLINE: The first thing my soul needs is an inclination toward God and his Word. Without that, nothing else will happen of any value in my life. I must want to know God and read his Word and draw near to him. So Psalm 119:36 teaches us to pray, ‘Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain.’ Very simply we ask God to take our hearts, which are more inclined to breakfast and the newspaper, and change that inclination. We are asking God to create desires that are not there.
“OPEN: Next I need to have the eyes of my heart opened so that when my inclination leads me to the Word, I see what is really there, and not just my own ideas. Who opens the eyes of the heart? God does. So Psalm 119:18 teaches us to pray, ‘Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.’ So many times we read the Bible and see nothing wonderful. Its reading does not produce joy. So what can we do? We can cry to God, ‘Open the eyes of my heart, O Lord, to see what it says about you as wonderful.’
“UNITE: Then I am concerned that my heart is badly fragmented. Parts of it are inclined, and parts of it are not. Parts see wonder, and parts say, ‘That’s not so wonderful.’ What I long for is a united heart where all the parts say a joyful Yes. to what God reveals in his Word. Where does that wholeness and unity come from? It comes from God. So Psalm 86:11 teaches us to pray, ‘Unite my heart to fear your name.’ Don’t stumble over the word fear when you thought we were seeking joy. The fear of the Lord is a joyful experience when you renounce all sin. A thunderstorm can be a trembling joy when you know you can’t be destroyed by lightning. ‘O Lord, let your ear be attentive to…the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name’ (Nehemiah 1:11). ‘His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD’ (Isaiah 11:3). Therefore pray that God would unite your heart to joyfully fear the Lord.
“SATISFY: What I really want from all this engagement with the Word of God and the work of the Spirit in answer to my prayers is for my heart to be satisfied with God and not with the world. Where does that satisfaction come from? It comes from God. So Psalm 90:14 teaches us to pray, ‘Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.’
“…for my part, the only hope I have to love God as I ought is that he would overcome all my disinclination and bind my heart to himself in love. That is the grace I must have to be a Christian and to live in joy.
“So… ‘I pray to God repeatedly: Incline my heart. Open the eyes of my heart. Unite my heart. Satisfy my heart.’ Prayer is, therefore, not only the measure of our hearts, revealing what we really desire; it is also the indispensable remedy for our hearts when we do not desire God the way we ought” (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, pages 150-153).
I encourage you to ask God to make you thirsty for himself, not just for any good gifts he might give you. Ask him to work in your heart so you will long for him. Ask him to open his Word to you so you will know him. And ask him to show you in your experience his goodness and beauty and wisdom and desirability.
“It is a gift to be thirsty for God.”