”On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scrip- ture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” John 7:37-39

Have you ever really been thirsty? In some places in the world people have to walk miles to find water. We simply turn on a tap and there it is.
In our text today Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.”

Of course Jesus was not talking about H2O. Jesus knew that after he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven that he would send the Holy Spirit. You know you can live a long time without eating but not very long wit- hout drinking. Some estimate that about two-thirds of the body is water. In the same way that water is essential for physical life, the Holy Spirit is essential for spiritual life. When our heart or soul thirsts, it is for God’s Holy Spirit.

There are a lot of thirsty people in our world today. Pe- ople who thirst for meaning and purpose and fulfilment, thirst for forgiveness, acceptance, direction, hope, peace and love.

Nothing beats just plain water. If I have been out in the sun working up a sweat I find that drinking water rep- lenishes me. If you are thirsty spiritually then the Holy Spirit is what you need. Through the Holy Spirit you can receive the love of God, the assurance to hope for the future, and the acceptance you desire. The forgiveness and salvation that Jesus bought with his own blood for you on the cross. Jesus has poured out His Holy Spirit. Come and drink. Let the Spirit of God well up in you so it can flow out of you for the world!

/Mark Beckenham

Prayer

– Pray that you will desire and thirst for even more of Christ ́s presence in and through you during the coming year.
– Pray for those that you know that would need to drink some living water.