ON THE LAST DAY OF THE FESTIVAL (PENTECOST) THE GREAT DAY, WHILE JESUS WAS STANDING THERE, HE CRIED OUT, " LET ANYONE WHO IS THIRSTY COME TO ME, LET THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN ME DRINK. AS THE SCRIPTURES HAS SAID, "OUT OF THE BELIEVERS HEART SHALL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATERS. NOW HE SAID THIS ABOUT THE SPIRIT, WHICH BELIEVERS IN HIM WERE TO RECEIVE; FOR AS YET THERE WAS NO SPIRIT, BECAUSE JESUS WAS NOT YET GLORIFIED.
WHEN ANYONE TALKS ABOUT RIVERS COME OUT OF HIS HEART, HE MUST BE USING PICTURE LANGUAGE, BUT JUST WHAT WAS IT THAT JESUS WANTED TO ILLUSTRATE, WITH THOSE RIVERS WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT THE SPIRIT OF GOD? IF WE HAD BEEN THERE ON A DUSTY DAY IN THE DRY SEASON, IT WOULDN'T HAD BEEN SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND. AFTER EVERYONE HAD FINISHED WITH HIS PRAYER FOR RAIN, JESUS WAS DESCRIBING THE SPIRIT AS AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SUPPLY OF WHAT YOU AND I NEED JUST AS MUCH AS DRY LAND NEEDS WATER. AND THEN HE EXTENDS THE OFFER, THE INVITATION, TO CALL UPON HIM, "GIVE ME A RIVER!" WHEN WATER IS WHAT YOU NEED, A RIVER WOULD BE IDEAL. FOR GOD TO GIVE US A RIVER FOR OUR PARCHED SOULS A RIVER OF HIS SPIRIT WOULD BE IDEAL, FOR IT WOULD PROVIDE US WITH A RESERVOIR FOR SATISFACTION.
WHEN YOUR THIRSTY, WATER MEANS LIFE. AND THAT'S THE KIND OF WATER JESUS OFFERED, THE WATER OF LIFE. TO THE WOMEN AT THE WELL HE DESCRIBED IT AS "A SPRING OF WATER WELLING UP TO ETERNAL LIFE." HERE HE TALKS ABOUT THE RIVER IN ORDER TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WITH HIM THERE ARE NO SHORTAGES, NO DRY SEASONS. IN A RAIN POOR PALESTINE EVERY YEAR COULD BE A DISASTER IF THE NEEDED RAIN DIDN'T FALL, AND SO THE WHOLE NATION JOINED IN PRAYER FOR RAIN FOR THE FESTIVAL, THE "FEAST OF TABERNACLES".
THE TABERNACLE WAS A PORTABLE SANCTUARY, A TENT, AS A PLACE OF WORSHIP FOR THE ISRAELITES. FROM THE TIME OF THE WILDERNESS WANDERINGS UNTIL THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE BY SOLOMON,TYPIFIED GOD DWELLING WITH HIS PEOPLE. BUT JESUS CALLS OUT THAT ANYONE THAT COMES TO HIM CAN DRINK FROM A RIVER, INEXHAUSTIBLE SUPPLY, A RESERVOIR FOR SATISFACTION, GOD'S WATER SUPPLY IS AMPLE FOR OUR WHOLE LIVES; FROM A FEW DROPS SPLASHED ON A BABY'S HEAD IN BAPTISM TO THE LAST SIP THROUGH A GLASS STRAW THAT WETS THE LIPS OF THE DYING, THERE IS NO SHORTAGE, OF THE WATER OF LIFE WITH GOD WHO OFFERS US A RIVER. OF COURSE, WATER IS THE ONLY KIND OF A SYMBOL
FOR WHAT WE NEED, JUST AS JESUS SPOKE OF HIMSELF. ELSEWHERE AS THE BREAD OF LIFE OR THE LIGHT OF LIFE. IN ALL THESE WAYS JESUS IS SAYING THAT HE IS ALL THAT WE NEED, THAT HE IS A RESERVOIR FOR SATISFACTION. GOD WANTS US TO KNOW, AS PAUL SAYS, THAT IF HE GAVE HIS OWN SON BECAUSE OF OUR NEED, HOW COULD WE POSSIBLY FEAR HE WOULD HOLD ANYTHING BACK. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, IT WAS THE SPIRIT THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. IT WAS THE FORCE THAT EMPOWERED "DRY BONES" TO STAND UP AND LIVE. WHEN JACOB WAS AN OLD MAN AND HIS SONS BROUGHT HIM WORD THAT JOSEPH WAS STILL ALIVE IN EGYPT, THE BOOK OF GENESIS TELLS US THAT JACOB SPIRIT WAS REVIVED. WE WOULD SAY HE WAS" HITTING ON ALL FOUR AGAIN." IN JUST THE OPPOSITE WAY, WHEN THE QUEEN OF SHEBA LISTENED TO SOLOMON'S WISDOM AND SAW ALL THE SPLENDOR., SHE WAS SO OVERWHELMED THAT IT SAYS THERE WAS NO SPIRIT LEFT IN HER. TODAY'S WORD FOR THAT KIND OF SPIRIT WOULD BE "ENERGY." IN VIEW OF ALL THE CONFUSION ABOUT THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT TODAY, IT WOULD BE WELL TO ASK, "STRENGTH FOR WHAT?" THE WAY TO APPROACH THAT QUESTION IN THE BIBLE'S OWN WAY OF SPEAKING WOULD BE TO ASK, THE "SPIRIT OF WHAT?" SINCE THE RIVER JESUS TALKS ABOUT COMES FROM HIS OWN HEART, IT MUST BE HIS SPIRIT, THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST, THE SPIRIT OF GOD THAT IS MEANT, WHICH ALSO MEANS HE'S TALKING ABOUT THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS, OF LOVE, OF JOY, AND PEACE AND THOSE THINGS MEAN STRENGTH!
TO LIVE THAT KIND OF LIFE CALLS FOR POWER. " SIN IS EASY, HOLINESS IS HARD;
YOU SIMPLY CAN'T BE BOTH HAPPY AND SAD AT THE SAME TIME. AND YET GOD IS!
ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL OF LUKE (CHAPTER 15), GOD GETS HIS JOY WHEN ONE SINNER REPENTS. THERE IS AN OLD MOVIE IN WHICH FREDRIC MARCH PLAYS THE PART OF AN ELDERLY WIDOWER WHO FALLS IN LOVE WITH YOUNG KIM NOVAK.
BUT ALONG WITH THE JOY OF LOVE HE DISCOVERS THE PAIN OF JEALOUSY, AND HE BREAKS OFF THE ROMANCE, TELLING THE GIRL HE JUST CAN'T LIVE IN THIS KIND OF PAIN.
BUT AFTER HE RETURNS TO HIS LONELY ROOM HE REALIZES THAT TO BE ABLE TO FEEL PAIN IS A SIGN OF LIFE, AFTER HE HAD BEEN DEAD IN LONELINESS, HE WAS BEGINNING TO COME ALIVE.
TO EVERYONE WHO HAS CRIED," GIVE ME A RIVER," CHRIST HAS OPENED HIS HEART AND OUT OF HIS HEART HAVE FLOWED RIVERS OF LIVING WATER"
No comments:
Post a Comment