And he called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.” Luke 16:24
Jesus told a story about a rich man, who lived for himself, and a poor man by the name of Lazarus, who lay at the rich man’s gate, hoping to pick up some scraps from his table. The beggar died and angels carried him to Abraham’s side. Then the rich man died, but he was not carried up by angels. Instead, he went to Hades, where he was in torment. The rich man was thirsty and begged for water. You see, hell has no fountain.
To be without Christ is to be far from the fountain. To be far from the fountain is to be always thirsty. On the cross, Jesus gave His life for us. Then He rose from the dead and now offers to give His life to us again. When He poured out His life on the cross, He knew that one day He would pour in His life by the Spirit. Jesus is the fountain to whom we can come and from whom we can drink.
While hanging on the cross, Jesus said, “I thirst” (John 19:28). The thirst of our lives became His so that the fountain of His life might become ours. The unending thirst that would have been yours in hell became His, so that the unending joy that is His should become yours in heaven.
This is what it will be like when we are finally in His presence, “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore… for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water” (Rev. 7:16-17).
Every life will have one of two outcomes, to be always thirsty or always satisfied. Every life is moving in one of these two directions. Either you are becoming more and more thirsty, or you are becoming more and more satisfied.
Are you becoming more and more thirsty or more and more satisfied?
