Come and Drink!
In John chapter 7, Jesus presents himself to a group of people as the Messiah. Here's verses 37-38: On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, "If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! For the scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within." The living water that Jesus was referring to here was the Holy Spirit. If you believe...come and drink. Not if you believe, and do good things, you may drink. Or if you believe and give lots of money to others, you may drink. Just simply, if you believe, come and drink. It's free. A free gift from God, for us, is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit can be compared to an inexhaustible fountain of life in Christ. We can put in our dipper for a cool drink of water whenever we want or need it. At anytime, we can fill our buckets with blessings from within. And even better! We can share this fountain of life with the world! Everyone we know can also be filled, we just need to share it with them. Isaiah 12:3 says With joy we will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation. With joy! Joy is such a wonderful feeling! Every day I am filled with joy as I look upon my sleeping babes. It's almost overwhelming to think of what wonderful gifts they are from the Lord. I liken the Holy Spirit to that feeling I have every day for my children. Without joy, our fountain may become bitter, and how can we share that then? No one wants to drink bitter water, and if we walk around bitter and complaining and sour from life, people will run from our good news. Why would someone want to partake in that which makes us sour?
There may also be times where that fountain may feel like it is running dry on us. Occasionally something may happen with someone else where you feel as though someone has dumped dirt all over your fountain. All we need to do is ask. Ask the Lord to re-open your well, to remove the dirt and crud and the dry feelings we have. Ask him to pour out the Holy Spirit, and he will eagerly give him to you. Again, as seems to be a recurring theme these days, all we need to do is ask. Ask, and it shall be given. Jesus spoke of such a beautiful experience, that all who are thirsty may believe and drink. And even better, when we put in our bucket to draw from the fountain, we can share that bucket and the refreshment of the Holy Spirit with others. Why would you stand at a fountain and hoard the water to yourself? It needs to be shared! It must be shared, and the Holy Spirit will be there to give us the courage when the time does come to share. All we need do is ask...
1 comment:
So often I forget to ask for the most important things, like filling with the HOly Spirit! I hope that I don't forget this, as it is something that God longs to give to us abundantly!
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