Proverbs 25:25
“Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.”
If one is separated from family and friends (i.e., they are in a “far land”), there is an intense desire for news about their well-being. My wife and I experience this all the time, since we are in Columbus and our children and grandchildren live in three different cities: San Diego, Charlotte, and Brooklyn. We long to hear how they are doing (especially the grandkids), and we are very grateful for FaceTime!
Years ago, we were especially anxious to hear good news when our youngest son deployed to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
The “cold water” metaphor that begins this proverb indicates the feeling of relief one experiences when hearing good news. We all know how refreshing it is to have a cool drink after working hard on a hot day. And so it is for those on earth who are thirsty for good news from the “far country” of the throne of God.
“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.” (Isaiah 55:1)
“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2)
“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.” (Psalm 63:1)
“I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.” (Psalm 143:5-6)
As recorded in John chapter 4, Jesus used the metaphor of water and thirst when speaking to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. The woman thought Jesus was speaking of physical water, when in fact he was speaking of the living water that Jesus himself was bringing to redeem all who would trust in him.
“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’” (John 4:10-15)
Then again in chapter 7, the gospel of John records this declaration by Jesus: “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “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 7:37-38
Jesus is the living water who satisfies the thirsty soul. Jesus is good news from a far country.
