Gary L. Thomas - Thirsting for God: Spiritual Refreshment for the Sacred Journey

GARY L. THOMAS

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Except where noted, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Emphasis in Scripture quotations has been added by the author.

Cover by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cover photoiStockphoto / Thinkstock

Some material taken from Seeking the Face of God.

THIRSTING FOR GOD

Copyright 1999/2011 by Gary Thomas

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thomas, Gary (Gary Lee)

Thirsting for God / Gary L. Thomas.

p. cm.

Augmented ed. of: Seeking the face of God. c1999.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-2890-8 (pbk.)

1. Spiritual lifeChristianity. I. Thomas, Gary (Gary Lee) Seeking the face of God. II. Title.

BV4501.3.T47155 2011

248.409dc22

2010015989

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / LB-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In Memory of Dr. Klaus Bockmuehl

Dr. Bockmuehl was a man of great faith and intellect. Though he never lived to see my writing ministry, he spoke matter-of-factly about it years before he had any earthly reason to do so. Plenty of students were much more deserving of his attention than I was, but Dr. Bockmuehls gracious contribution and encouragement has left a lasting impression. The memory of his life continues to call me forward in Christ.

Thirsting for God is a completely rewritten and updated version of Seeking the Face of God, which I wrote in 1994. The subjects are the same (except for three entirely new chapters), but Ive reworked the old material and added new, including more than 125 new quotes from a variety of Christian classics. I wrote Seeking the Face of God when I was in my early thirties, and though Im pleased at how well the themes have held up (not that surprising, considering that the book is based on the timeless wisdom of the classics), rewriting it just shy of my fiftieth birthday reflects almost two additional decades of living with, reflecting on, and applying these truths.

The format has also been changed extensively. As I continued my journey of reading and rereading the classics, I noticed the helpfulness of savoring smaller nuggets of truth, which is why this volume has 48 short chapters. Yes, part of the additional number of chapters is to accommodate more material, but it also marks a different approach to devotional reading. I hope it will make your reading a gentler, more meditative, and more life-changing encounter.

I believe that even if you have read Seeking the Face of God, reading Thirsting for God will feel like an entirely new experience. I offer this new version of my first book to the church, and to Gods service, with prayers that it will further our lives of devotion and remind us of the vast amounts of wisdom from which we can continue our journey in the twenty-first century.

W ith one simple sentence, Franklin Graham, president of Samaritans Purse, instantly put me on the edge of my seat. Maybe I should take Gary with me to see Daddy, he said. We can work while we fly, have dinner with Daddy and Mama, and then work on the way back.

I could hardly believe my ears. A personal dinner with Billy Graham!

Billy Graham had no choice but to become one of the least accessible people in the world. Everybody wanted to meet the aging patriarch of evangelicalism, but Billydespite his age and failing healthdetermined to preach until his strength literally gave out. If he spent 15 hours a day meeting people, he wouldnt have had the strength to preach. Being unavailable for personal appointments is much more realistic than laboriously filtering through the literally thousands of requests he receives. Those who love him dearly have been forced to become understandably protective.

And yet I was looking at the possibility of a private dinner! Of course, Id have to make some adjustments in my schedule, and airlines seem to enjoy exploiting desperate travelers. Oh, you need to change your day of departure? Sure, we can do that for a mere $800 more.

You know what? I didnt care what it would cost me.

I would also have to cancel some appointments, but none of that mattered either. I thought I could look any of my friends in the eyes and say, Hey, it was you or Billy Graham, and I went with Billy. They would have thought me foolish not to take advantage of the opportunity.

As it turned out, the dinner never took place. During the long journey home, I reflected on how excited Id been at the prospect of meeting this great man, how willing I was to undergo any difficulty to make it happen, and how quick I was to accept any discomfort the visit might bring to other areas of my life. All the while, every day, One who is infinitely greater than Billy Graham cries out, Where is the man or woman who will devote himself or herself to be close to Me?

The true cry of our hearts is to worship, know, and love the God who created us. But lets be honest. This relationship can, at first glance, seem incredibly difficult to enter into. How can we, encased in flesh and imprisoned in time, relate to a God who is spirit and eternal? How do we, with finite minds scarcely able to think above our sinful passions, commune with a God who is infinite in all His holy glory and in whose mind no sin has ever dwelled?

Surely no relationship has been less equal than the one Christ calls us to when He says, Come, follow Me. Our occasional lack of wonder at the absolute inequality of the relationship is evidence enough that we do not fully comprehend the greatness of the God who speaks and the humility of us who listen.