“All reading not intended for us by God is dangerous,” wrote Jeane-Pierre de Caussade in his classic devotional book of the 18th Century.
The French Jesuit Priest continued,” It is by doing the will of God and obeying His holy inspirations that we obtain grace, and this grace works in our hearts through our reading or other employment. Apart from God reading is empty and vain and, being deprived for us of the life-giving power of the action of God, only succeeds in emptying they heart by the very fullness it gives to the mind” (Section V, p. 9).
Jesus offers us his Spirit to drink: “If anyone is thirsty, let him [or her] come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him [or her]. (John 7:38).
You and I are thirsty for Living Water. We quench our thirst by drinking, not by reading about drinking.
So when you read the Bible or this article don’t read just to get through it – read to pray, read to drink in the Spirit of Christ. Some Christian writings are more helpful along these lines than others. Read the ones that inspire you to pray with the Psalmist:
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (Psalm 42:1-2).
Everywhere we go God’s streams are available – if only we’d feel our thirst and drink! Our life and our eternity depend on this. And the lives of everyone we come in contact with depend on us being able to overflow with this Living Water.
Are you feeling thirsty for God right now? Pause… Take a deep breath… Smile upward… Drink in of the Holy Spirit all around you…
“Waves of Love” is my thirsty for God prayer poem inspired by Psalm 42.
“Reading the Classics of Devotion” is a list of good old books that elicit my thirst for God.
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