"My soul thirstethfor God" (Psalm 42:2).
I. The underlying cause of soul-thirst
A. Man Designed for Fellowship.
1. To Walk with God. (Gen. 1:26, 27; Gen. 5:24; Gen. 6:6)
2. To Wait on God. (Ps. 145:18; Ps. 73:28)
3. To Work with God. (1 Cor. 3:9, 15:5; Matt. 5:16)
B. Man Deprived of Fellowship.
1. Through wandering (Prov. 21:16, 14:14)
2. Through worldliness (2 Tim. 4:10)
3. Through wickedness (Isa. 59:2)
II. The unfailing cure for soul-thirst
A. A gracious invitation (Isa. 55:1; John 3:37)
B. An earnest expectation (Matt. 5:6; Ps. 143: 6)
C. A personal appropriation (Rev. 22:17; John 4:14)
III. Your most valuable possession
On one of Lawrence of Arabia's journeys through the desert, a man named Jasmin was a member of his party. Jasmin was a Bedouin and a lazy, shiftless fellow. The Arabs spoke of him as "Jasmin the Bedouin, not worth half a crown." As the party journeyed on, they were suddenly enveloped in a blinding sandstorm and soon were separated from each other. Hours later, when they were reunited and were preparing to make camp, Lawrence asked, "Where is Jasmin?" There was no response. "Where is Jasmin?" he repeated. The Arabs looked at each other and then someone said, "He is out there," indicating with a wave of his hand the direction he had taken. Without a word, Lawrence led his camel out into the storm. He was going to find "Jasmin the Bedouin, not worth half-a-crown." At last he found him, completely exhausted. Lawrence helped him onto the camel and walked on ahead. As dawn was painting the sky, they reached camp.
The Arabs awoke to find Jasmin in their midst, alive because their leader had found him. He had gone out into the storm to find "Jasmin the Bedouin, not worth half-a-crown." From that day forward the others in the group treated Jasmin with the greatest respect, but the change in Jasmin himself was the most remarkable feature of the incident. Never again was he the same lazy, good-for-nothing he had been before it happened. Lawrence had thought him worth saving, and his selfworth was enhanced beyond all knowing.
When people regard their souls as worthless, let them remember how Someone even greater than Lawrence of Arabia went out into the fiercest storm this world has ever known. Jesus must have considered our souls to be of infinite value if He endured such sufferings upon the Cross to deliver us from the power of sin and Satan. Against the background of what happened at Calvary the soul is surely heaven's most valuable possession.
