iv. THE THIRST OF GOD. 



75 



not bear it long; it cannot be put off. Unless soon 

 gratified we perish in torment and misery indescribable. 

 But the physical want the physical longing of thirst 

 is but a feeble and inadequate emblem of the craving 

 that is in the heart of Jesus to save us. He needs our 

 salvation. He represents Himself as empty, as incom- 

 plete without it. We help to fill up the fulness of Him 

 that filleth all in all. It was prophesied that He should 

 see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. It was 

 a world's redemption that He sought, and only a 

 world's redemption can satisfy the infinite thirst of His 

 soul. He says to each of us as He said to the woman 

 of Samaria, " If thou knewest the gift of God and who 

 it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst 

 have asked of Him, and He would have given thee 

 living water;" thou wouldst have been the petitioner, 

 and not Jesus.- What He wants from us is not our sub- 

 stance, our profession of religion, our ceremonialism. 

 These bear no true relation to the thirst of His soul, 

 any more than a bag of pearls would bear any relation 

 to the thirst of our body. He desires what is co-natural 

 with His own want. Only like can satisfy like; only 

 love can satisfy love. He says, "Son, daughter, give 

 me thine heart," and if we put Him orf with all that we 

 possess, our devotions, our alms, and our good deeds, 

 and withhold our heart, He will remain unsatisfied, and 

 we shall remain unblessed. Among the native tribes of 

 Japan, the thirstiest man is considered the holiest ; and 

 is it not so in the Christian sense, for the thirstiest man 

 shall receive the most of the water of life ? Let us then 



