John 7:37–39
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.
Whoever believes in me, as the
Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
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.
If I am
thirsty, I can come to the Lord Jesus and drink of Him. But if I meet others in need, I cannot pour
out a cupful and hand it to them, but
can only minister to their need as Christ is a spring of water in me. So I must
keep on drinking if the needs of others are to be met through me.
This
verse describes a true ministry of Christ that is open to us all. The Word of
Christ, the living water, first enters our hearts and satisfies us. From there
it wells up again to spread life around. The trouble is that the Word often
ceases to live after it has passed through you and me. For it is not a matter
of how many Scriptures we can quote to other people; rather it is the outflow
from us of Christ indwelling. And for that we must be ever drinking of Him. No
thirst will be quenched otherwise.
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