Yesterday I worked outside from about 6:15 a.m until 10:00 a.m. By then, the shady spot I was in was about gone and the temperature was well above 90 already, so it was time to go inside. The predicted high was 110°, but I think it only reached 108°.  We have already had over 25 triple digit days this year, and today will be another. This is not the first time we’ve seen consistently high temperatures like this here in North Texas, but the last few years have spoiled us a bit.

The pictures with this devotion are in my yard, one between my house and garage, the others between my house and my barn. Some of those cracks are an inch wide and 12 inches deep. This is a parched and dry land. I really feel for the farmers who are watching their crops wither.

These images remind me of the word pictures in Scripture about parched and dry lands. It is not a good thing. Jeremiah uses that imagery to speak of God’s punishment for those who do not trust in Him.

Jeremiah 12:4 How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished.

David uses that phrase to describe his desire to commune with God, especially when things are not going well.

Psalm 143: …my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Another Psalmist also speaks of our soul’s desire to be with God as thrist.

Psalm 42:1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

Isaiah says the joy of knowing the Lord and His redemption will transform people’s lives, using nature as the illustration.

Isaiah 35:1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Being parched is not a good thing. But God can and does transform our situation. We thirst for Him and He provides for us, He satisfies the desires of our soul. Jesus said that would be the case in His Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

We have the gift above all others in Jesus, who bought us back from sin and death and allows us to stand before our God as dearly loved forgiven children. That is the Good News we have and others still need to hear.

John 7:37–38 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

Thank you, Lord, for satisfying our spiritual thirst by being the living water that came down from heaven, earning our forgiveness and assuring our salvation. We ask that you would mercifully send rain to those who are enduring drought conditions, granting them relief. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

When you pray this prayer, don’t forget to get your umbrella!