By Roger D. Willmore
Look at the text and notice first of all,
The Condition Described (v. 37)
Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts…” Thirst is a consciousness of an unsatisfied need. Thirst expresses desperation. Thirst will kill faster than hunger. One can go weeks without food, but only days without water.
Are you thirsty? Are you thirsty for God? Years ago I heard Stuart Briscoe make a statement I have never forgotten. He said, “God will meet man on the level of his desire, man can have as much of God as he wants.” \
Eric Alexander, the former pastor of St. George’s Tron, Church of Scotland, in Glasgow once said, “We need to learn that the blessing of God is not a cheap commodity lightly dispensed.”
The Psalmist said, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my sour for You, O God, my soul thirsts for God—for the Living God” (Psa. 42:1-2).
Do you have an unsatisfied need for God in your heart? Are you thirsty?
The text also reveals,
The Invitation that was Given (v. 37)
We are reminded here that Jesus stood to extend this invitation to the crowd. This is significant because no Jewish teacher ever stood to speak. Those who stood to make announcements were Imperial Heralds who represented a King or a Caesar. We have before us an imperial invitation.
Notice that the invitation was not to attend church or a program or a meeting or a Bible study. It was an invitation to come to a Person!
Lastly we see,
The Promise Jesus Made (v. 38)
“Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water…”
Jesus did not promise a trickle or a stream or a flow…He promised a river. Can you get your mind around this? The Holy Spirit is like a mighty rushing river…a life-giving river. He is like the mighty river found in Ezekiel 47 that produces life wherever it flows.
The mighty Amazon River finds its origin above the freeze line of the Andes Mountains in South America. There, little trickles of water emerge from the frozen ground and flow down the mountain. One little stream flowing into another little stream until a majestic river is formed. As the river flows it picks up speed and power. It flows for 3,600 miles before it reaches the
Jesus did not promise a trickle or a stream or a flow… He promised a river.
Atlantic Ocean, where it hits the ocean at a rate of 1.4 million gallons of water per second and with such force that it pushes fresh water some 60 miles out into the Atlantic ocean. What power!
Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (v. 38).
It is my prayer that you will experience the awesome life giving power of the Holy Spirit in your life and ministry. ❖
--Roger D. Willmore is Pastor of Deerfoot Baptist Church in Trussville, Ala. and President of the Alabama Baptist State Convention.
1 E.M. Bounds, Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer (Power Through Prayer), Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1990, pp. 479-480