“Before we can be filled with the Spirit the desire to be filled must be all-consuming. It must be for the time the biggest thing in life, so acute, so intrusive as to crowd out everything else. The degree of fullness in any life accords perfectly with the intensity of true desire. We have as much of God as we actually want.” A.W. Tozer

Have you ever been so thirsty, you felt like you couldn’t actually drink enough? Years ago, I was on a long-distance flight from Los Angeles to Munich, Germany, and, despite all of the warnings and tips to stay well hydrated, I managed to go almost the entire flight without drinking anything. I was with a school group and once we disembarked, we instantly were whisked away to a German restaurant where we enjoyed a local favorite meal – schnitzel and bread.

The saltiness of the schnitzel and the density of the bread, combined with almost 19 hours of no water, and suddenly I was dying of thirst. The poor waitress at that restaurant couldn’t bring me enough water. I drank more and more and more and more. That intense longing for water was temporary, and once satisfied, I got back on a more regular hydration routine for the remainder of the trip. These days, I do have to prompt myself to drink water throughout the day, but I’ve never had that horribly parched feeling since that trip to Germany over 20 years ago.

I’m hydrated thankfully, and yet, I walk around, sometimes, in a near parched state spiritually. On a given morning, I’ve have a drink or two of the Word, and assume that is enough for a while. Other times, I get so busy and go several hours or days without enjoying His Word and His presence, and then am suddenly overwhelmed by a deep need for Him. In response, I drink enough to satiate that need temporarily and then get back to my normal routine.

A.W. Tozer is right, I do have as much of the Lord as I want. That is a sobering thought, looking at my “normal” spiritual condition. What I should really long for is what C.S. Lewis writes in The Last Battle : to “come further up and further in” to that heavenly place – His presence.

So, how much of God do you have right now? Psalm 42:1 reminds us that this longing for Him is our true condition: “As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.” Spend some time in His Word, in His presence, and drink deeply. Don’t ever stop.

Blessings,
Holly Kalton