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The Desire of Ages
vation to flow to all who are athirst. Christ’s words were the water of
life. There in the presence of the assembled multitude He set Himself
apart to be smitten, that the water of life might flow to the world. In
smiting Christ, Satan thought to destroy the Prince of life; but from
the smitten rock there flowed living water. As Jesus thus spoke to the
people, their hearts thrilled with a strange awe, and many were ready
to exclaim, with the woman of Samaria, “Give me this water, that I
thirst not.”
John 4:15
.
Jesus knew the wants of the soul. Pomp, riches, and honor cannot
satisfy the heart. “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me.” The rich,
the poor, the high, the low, are alike welcome. He promises to relieve
the burdened mind, to comfort the sorrowing, and to give hope to
the despondent. Many of those who heard Jesus were mourners over
disappointed hopes, many were nourishing a secret grief, many were
seeking to satisfy their restless longing with the things of the world
and the praise of men; but when all was gained, they found that they
had toiled only to reach a broken cistern, from which they could not
quench their thirst. Amid the glitter of the joyous scene they stood,
dissatisfied and sad. That sudden cry, “If any man thirst,” startled them
from their sorrowful meditation, and as they listened to the words
that followed, their minds kindled with a new hope. The Holy Spirit
presented the symbol before them until they saw in it the offer of the
priceless gift of salvation.
The cry of Christ to the thirsty soul is still going forth, and it
appeals to us with even greater power than to those who heard it in
the temple on that last day of the feast. The fountain is open for all.
The weary and exhausted ones are offered the refreshing draught of
eternal life. Jesus is still crying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto
Me, and drink.” “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely.” “Whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Revelation 22:17
;
John 4:14
.
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