21 July 2023
All of us human beings have a number of basic longings in our lives. Millions of Christians can testify that these longings only Christ can fulfil.
There is a hunger in the human heart that cannot be filled by materialism and human achievements (you shall thirst again); there is a thirst which none can fulfil (Jesus claims to be the ‘bread of life’ and the ‘living water); there is an inner emptiness which none but Jesus Christ can fill (Christ claims to be the giver of ‘Life’ and ‘Life abundantly).
Augustine wrote in his confessions: “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” – how true this is.
But some responded: Jesus is just a crutch – he is fine for lame dogs who need a helping hand but for us who can manage on our own, we do not need him. Christians do not deny this – all human beings are lame, sick, hungry and thirsty. The only difference between us is not that some are needy, while others are not – the truth is that some know and acknowledge their need, while others do not, either because they are ignorant or worst still – they are too proud to realise and recognise their need.
In Christ God’s fullness dwells permanently. and united to Him (which takes place in genuine conversion), we ourselves have come to fullness of life. To be a Christian is not to be someone odd, condemned to perpetual eccentricity; it is rather to be truly and fully human. On the other hand, to reject Chriist is to become to some degree subhuman, because it is to forfeit experiences indispensable to authentic humanness. Ponder over these thoughts.