If you met me during my late teens, you would find a desperate man, hungry for His Lord. I was driven to know Him and to know everything about Him. So much so that I would almost chew through concrete to find someone who could teach me something new about Jesus.

Do you remember the story of the Samaritan woman? The Lord spoke to her while she was drawing water out of Jacob’s well. He said, “If you drink the water that comes out of this earthly well, you are going to thirst again.”

There’s a marvelous message in that story. If we drink the waters of this world, whatever they may be . . . fame, entertainment, material wealth. . . they will leave us thirsty for more.

Yet the Lord went on to say to her, “But if you drink the water that I shall give, you will never thirst again.”

In my early Christian life, I could relate to the first part of Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman. That is, once I tasted life in Christ, all temporary pursuits lost their spice. They suddenly became wooden and bland. I found a new well from which to drink, and it dramatically changed the direction of my life.

However, meeting the Lord didn’t quench my thirst entirely. It actually produced a greater thirst and a greater hunger within. But it was a thirst and a hunger for more of Him. And that thirst and that hunger has never left me.

In this connection, I’ve come to a conclusion: If you get a glimpse of the peerless glories of Jesus Christ, something is going to happen to you. You will be wrecked. On the one hand, you are not going to thirst for the things of this world. But there’s going to be another hunger and another thirst that will be born within you. And you will thirst again. But that thirst is going to be for more of Christ.

To put it in a sentence, He will remove your thirst, not be taking away your need for water, but by showing you a new well which will never run dry.

I say that looking back over my shoulder 25 years down the pike. I live in constant tension. On the one hand, I’m satisfied. Jesus Christ has quenched my thirst. On the other hand, I live with a constant thirst for more . . . a constant hunger for more. It’s particularly evident whenever I get around a Christian who has a walk with the Lord that exceeds my own. At that moment, I become a student . . . a sponge ready to soak up more of God.

I don’t know this from experience, but I’m told that once a person is materially wealthy, they desire more wealth. Once they taste the fruit of great material riches, they keep wanting more of it. The Lord Jesus Christ is a lot like that. Once you discover Him in a real way, you want more of Him. Perhaps the reason for this is because Jesus Christ is the incarnation of true wealth and riches. Colossians 2:2-3; Ephesians 3:8.

There’s a point here, and it is this: Hunger is a sign. It’s a sign of life. If you’re not hungry, one of two things is going on. Either you’re dead, or you need to be admitted to the IC unit because you’re in a coma.

Written by Frank Viola Author