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| Bridal Veil Falls, BC, Canada |
TO CHEW ON: "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" John 7:37,38
A description of one of the Feast of Tabernacle customs gives us the context for Jesus' outburst:
"Each day during the Feast of Tabernacles a joyous celebration was observed in which the priests brought water (symbolic of the water supplied from the rock - Exodus 17) to the temple from the pool of Siloam in a golden pitcher. During the procession the people recited Isaiah 12:3 ["Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."]. The water was poured out on the altar as an offering to God while the people shouted and sang. Jesus was the fulfillment of that ceremony typified (see 1 Corinthians 10:4)" - Siegfried Schatzmann, notes on John, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1457.
Knowing about this custom helps us understand the impact Jesus' words must have had on that crowd with their rich culture of water. For in addition to God supplying water during its scarcity during their wilderness wanderings, their scriptures were full of references to it:
- As part of God's shepherding of them - Psalm 23:2.
- As a source of life in desert places - Isaiah 35:6.
- As flowing freely in a longed-for future - Isaiah 49:10.
- As a prophetic invitation from God to an abundant life - Isaiah 55:1.
- As a coming-home destination after repentance - Jeremiah 17:13; 31:9.
The beautiful thing for us is the promise, in verse 38, that our belief in Christ leads to rivers of living water flowing from our lives by the Holy Spirit. Is it happening?
Our Bible commenter expresses these good thoughts:
"Those who are satisfied by Jesus will themselves become channels of spiritual refreshment for others. The figure of rivers contrasts with "a fountain" (John 4:14), illustrating the difference between one's new birth and one's experience of the overflowing fullness of the Spirit-filled life" - Ibid (emphasis added).
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for being living water. May my thirsts be satisfied in You. And please flow rivers of water through me. I want to be a channel of Holy Spirit refreshment to others. Amen.
MORE: "All Who are Thirsty" by Robin Mark
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