As Katie began her talk tonight, she reminded us of the reality that Jesus loves us so much that He wants to be with us. He chooses to be with us. He thirsts for us.
She encouraged us to consider the implications for each of us in the Biblical story where two people asked Jesus, “Where are you staying?” and Jesus’ incredible response to them was “Come and see.”
By responding to Jesus’ invitation to “come and see,” His disciples were able to witness incredible things – the calming of a storm, the healing of seriously ill people, the miraculous feeding of the hungry, and so much more.
He wants to do those same things for us: He wants to calm the storms of our lives, He wants to heal us where we are most hurting, He wants to feed our deepest hungers, and he wants to quench our deepest thirst – our thirst for love. But we can only experience these things if we respond to His invitation to “Come and see.”
Katie went on to share a personal story about a time when she felt abandoned by God during the devastation of her home and the uprooting of her family in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. She needed Jesus to be with her, especially in the tumultuous aftermath of this storm. Though it took her some time to realize it, eventually she realized that He was always with her, even in her darkest times.
He loves us abundantly to the point of suffering intense emotional and physical pain for us so that our thirst for love will be satisfied. He wants us to reach out to Him. If we do, we will discover that His arms are open wide on the cross for us.
As we pray and say to Jesus, “I need you,” let’s listen as He says in response to our prayer, “I thirst for you.”
Quotables
Every ounce of blood Jesus dropped had the name of a person he loved on it.
Jesus can calm those internal, raging storms that cause us so much discomfort and pain.
Jesus came in a humble, simple way to be with us here. He couldn’t stand to be away from us.
The God of the universe, who needs nothing, came here because He wants you.
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