"If you are thirsty, come and drink"

I started reading The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis today, and I was just astonished with a passage in the 2nd chapter. It is about an encounter that Jill has with Aslan. The passage is a bit long, but I will highlight specific things that stuck out to me. It goes like this...

...And the thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the lion if only she could be sure of geting a mouthful of water first.
"If you're thirsty, you may drink."
They were the fist words she had heard since Scrubb had spoken to her on the edge of the cliff. For a second she stared here and there, wondering who had spoken. Then the voice said again, "If you are thirsty, come and drink," and of course she remembered what Scrubb had said about animals talking in that other world, and realized that it was the lion speaking...
"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.
"I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.
"Then drink," said the Lion.
"May I--could I-- would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience...
"Will you promise no to--do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.
"Do you eat girls?" she said.
"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion...
It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted. You didn't need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once.

After reading, a couple verses came to mind about "thirst", but I looked up other references in my handy ESV to find more. -->

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Mt 5:6
"For I was hunger and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me," Mt 25:35
"Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty again." Jn 4:13-14
"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my sould thirsts for you;my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Ps 63:1
"Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and mile
without money and without price." Is 55:1
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." Jn 7:37b
"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;" Rev 7:16a

And there are probably many other places that have a form of "thirst" in the Bible.
So to tie this all together, recently in church and in my personal time with God, he has been teaching me that I must come to him on His terms, not mine. I must count the cost, and the walk of faith. But the only way you can truly do that is if you CANNOT HELP IT. Jill's thirst must be quenched. She cannot help but quench it. She asks Aslan if he can go away, or make promises, but those are HER terms, not his. She has to count the cost of losing her life if he chooses to eat her, and she takes the risk. She counted it. We must do the same. Just like in Matthew 8, the fishermen are in the storm because they counted the cost of following Christ. He invites them, Jill, and us into the boat or to drink the water. He doesn't promise things won't get rocky, or edgy. That's a part of faith. He doesn't want us to come at our own convenience. He wants it all or nothing. And you can't go running to another stream, because he is the only one, and the only one who satisfies. There is no personal pick-this-and-drop-that Jesus. It's all him, or it's nothing. I'm tired of this comfortable "I have my own customized Jesus" lie that so many of us have fallen into, are falling, or will.

The disciples counted the cost and followed him to dangerous places---we should as well.

C.S. Lewis continues saying this...

"Come. Walk before me to the edge of the cliff."
Christ doesn't say, 'Come and stroll with me through the park.' It reminded me of the story about Abraham and Isaac. God tells Abraham to offer up his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. And Abraham goes in, without questioning, having faith that God can raise him. And God makes a covenant with him saying, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly." (Gen 17:1-2) First, he makes a covenant because of his faithfulness and trust in God. Second, he says "walk before me, and be blameless" because walking is a consistent, intimate relationship and "blameless" is a sacrificial life of having no blemish. It is an intimate on-going relationship of transforming to be more like Him. And third, he says, "that I may make my covenant between me and you". The covenant is based on walking with him and being blameless. It isn't claim him, pick out what you want, and you're good. It's his terms, or no covenant.

So it's time: Count the cost. It's His limits. Are you willing to sacrifice everything you have, give your life, to follow Him?