The Thirst and The Quench

[Quote from "How Shall We Then Forgive"]

“I just got a hankerin’ for somethin’ but I don’t know what it is,” said Jake the Snake as he stood at the bar. “Oh well. Gimme a whiskey, but I don’t think that’s it.” Jake always filled the unidentifiable hankerin’ with some kind of alcohol until the alcohol became the hankerin’.
Jake felt a hand shaking his shoulder, “Jake. Hey Jake.” He opened his eyes and looked up. “You OK Jake?” The noon sun was shining brightly behind the head of the man leaning over him. “Here. Have some water.” Jake sat up and took the canteen. His head throbbed as he took a swig. He looked around, “Damn…am I in the alley again?”
“Yeah, sorry Jake,” said Tom. Tom and Jake had been friends since childhood. Two years ago Jake stopped talking to his friend because “he got religion.” Now he was preaching.
“Chasin’ the hanker again, Jake.”
“Yeah, damn near caught it, too.”
“Bucked you off, huh?”
“Yeah, right on my head.”
“C’mon,” Tom grabbed the arm of his downed friend and pulled him to his feet. They walked in silence to the boarding house.
“Thanks Tom.”
“Don’t mention it. But I know whatch’er hanker is. Gitch’er butt over to church tonight and I’ll tell you about it.”
“Aw, Tom.”
“You know it’s gotta be better than that head ache. By the way, there’s horse poop in you hair. I know it beats that.”
Jake ran his fingers through his hair and looked at his hand.
“Crap,” he said.
“Yeah, said Tom. “Looks that way to me. What I got to say can’t be too much worse. See you tonight.”
Jake laughed, “OK, Tom. See you tonight.”
 Addictions happen like that. In our effort to fill the void in our souls, we use something that hollows us out even more and makes itself indispensible.
 This statement by Blaise Pascal is often quoted: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” Knowing this, it should be a simple matter of letting God take his place. The problem is, there is so much emptiness in every man that is not God shaped. Like noisy little chicks in the nest chirping to be filled, our un-God-like void usually out chirps our God-shaped-void. But trying to quiet the unknown hankerin’ by feeding the un-God-ish is a waste of time and effort. Jesus Christ is what we want. Take care of that first and He will take care of everything else.