As each day progresses, we continue to imagine a week without Jesus. Read about SINDAY and MOURNDAY here as well as TEARSDAY here, and WASTEDAY here.

Now, a new day has come…

THURSDAY

But, without Jesus, Thursday would not be Thursday ; Thursday would be THIRSTDAY. This was something we talked about, briefly, just last night in our mid-week Bible class. We’re studying Revelation and reached a point in the text when God speaks from His throne…

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

(Revelation 21:6)

The blessings of salvation are numerous and varyingly described, but sometimes the simplest phrase is the most impactful: Imagine you are lost in a barren desert, crawling, sunbaked, desperate for relief, stranded for days; you come across a pair of travelers, one of whom offers you a succulent t-bone steak, cooked to perfection (medium rare, grilled over coals, with just a sprinkle of salt, pepper, garlic, and a hint of rosemary, but I digress). The other one has a jug of pure, cool, ice water.

Which one are you taking?

Remember, you’ve been days in the desert with nothing to show for it but dry, crackled lips, and the bitter taste of windblown sand between your teeth. What are you taking first, the steak or the water? As delicious as a well-cooked steak is, your body would almost involuntarily compel you to reach out for the jug of water. The body knows what it needs. It craves it. There’s a reason why the common analogy for salvation is not a buffet but a fountain.

Jesus promised the woman at the well that all people would, through the Messiah, drink from the fountain of living water (John 4). He promised those who gathered for the feast of tabernacles the Messiah would bring to each a bottomless wellspring of living water (John 7). Jesus is that Messiah; He came to us while we were parched and dying in the desert of sin and offered us the means to quench our spiritual thirst. Imagine going a week without water.

Imagine going a week without Jesus!

Without Jesus, our souls would be cracked, brittle, shriveled up husks, starving with thirst for the fountain of life that He alone can bring us.

Tomorrow, we’ll consider the final two days in this (hypothetical) terrible week without Jesus.

~ Matthew