Echoes From the Campfire

In this country, water ain’t for luxury.”  
                   –Wayne D. Dundee (Dismal River)
       
       “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”
                    –Psalm 63:1 (NKJV)
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       Remember the times that you used to splash as a kid in the puddles after a rain?  Can you recall ever eating snow or sucking on icicles?  Remember, the “Echo” yesterday, when we looked at the thirst of the wayfarer, his need for water, and the finding of a wasteland oasis?
       You were desperate for a drink.  Forget the seltzers, sodas, and lattes.  Forget asking the waitress for lemon in your tea or water.  Right then, in the heat of the day, in the dryness of your wandering, all you wanted was just a sip of cool water.  You didn’t quit; you endured, you crawled over the hill until you reached the oasis.  The desert wasteland had been merciless, but then you found water.
       Ahhh, that wonderful feeling when you fell into the water at the oasis.  It wasn’t a mirage.  Your mind wasn’t playing tricks on you; it was not another illusion.  Water.  It was pure, clear water.  You drank your fill, you bathed in it soaking yourself.  Remember the feeling when you poured it over your head, when you splashed in it with your feet, when you rolled in it–life-saving, life-giving water.
       Two thoughts here.  Why is it we do not fill the soul with eternal water?  Life stems in the desert from the oasis, yet we let the soul become depleted and dehydrated.  We plod on the spiritual trek and never truly seek the oasis.  They are out there in the wasteland.  Sometimes there are tanks in the rocks, sometimes a pool, sometimes it takes a miracle or striking the “Rock”, but the water is there.  We must seek the Source of the true, pure, clear, cool water and never let our spirits thirst again.
       The second is the importance of these “oasis” experiences.  It is important to remember the times in our lives when the Holy Spirit came to us in that special way.  Those times when He so overwhelmed us that we bathed in His presence; when we drank deeply from His deep wells.  Remember those times as you leave this oasis and continue on your journey through the wilderness.  Joseph Parker prayed,

                    “Thou has the key of the rain; the river is Thine, and it is full of water; every drop thou dost count, every shower Thou alone dost give….  For this thirst [after righteousness] we pray; the keener thirst, the inner thirst:  the Lord hears us when we ask that we may be satisfied out of the river that flows by His own throne.”