On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." John7:37-38
Back in the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel had two pictures that reflected contemporary society:
* A valley of dry bones that could be brought to life by the preaching of the Word and the infilling of the Spirit.
* The wastelands of the Dead Sea brought to life by a river flowing from the temple.
The New Testament makes it clear that _we_ are the temple of the Holy Spirit. When we are dry and thirsty, He invites us to come to Him.
When we:
1- come to Christ in repentant humility.
2- bow our hearts before Him and embrace Him as our Saviour.
3- surrender to His Lordship and appoint Him as King over our lives.
Then we:
1- receive the unconditional love and forgiveness of the Father
2- know the security of adoption by grace as sons and daughters of God
3- experience the transforming power of the Spirit to heal and transform us and those around us.
The River is the Holy Spirit who will flow in and from us, and, in line with Ezekiel's vision, that river can flow into the deserts and wastelands of contemporary society and bring gracious abundant life.
But in Ezekiel's vision the river gets deeper and we can stand by the side, paddle, wade or swim in it. It's not MY river, it's the river of the Spirit and we can choose to what extent we will paddle, wade or swim in it.
So, if you're thirsty...
- Come to Jesus - get _real_ with Him.
- He'll start a river in you and you have a choice:
- Stay on the bank or take off your shoes and start paddling, wading and swimming. (Something on the "How?" of this tomorrow...)
---
--------------------------
Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
