Streams of Living Water

“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.” John 7:37-38

I was thinking earlier about the different elements that the Holy Spirit is compared to. All three of them living and moving things. You have the wind, fire, and water. The wind can be a gentle breeze; it can be a tornado, or a hurricane that decimates entire cities. Fire can be the flame of a single candle or it can burn down entire forests. Water can be a single drop of rain or it can be a tsunami that decimates part of a country. All these things are very interesting and I have many thoughts about them, however today I want to focus on water.

Have you ever been thirsty? I mean REALLY thirsty, your lips dry and cracked, your tongue sticking to the roof of your mouth, and that little hanging thing at the back of your throat called a uvula sticking to the back of your throat. Have you ever just wanted to plunge your whole head under the faucet or into a pool or river so you could suck in as much water as possible, or maybe guzzled down a whole glass of it without stopping to breathe? Have you ever tried to quench your thirst with something other than water, like a soda, and then after you’re done felt even more thirsty than when you started? I can't help but recall a Bugs Bunny episode I watched with my dad where Daffy was lost in the desert, and he saw a mirage and tried to dive into it, only to discover it was only sand.  It made me laugh so hard, but have any of us ever really felt that thirsty? Have we ever been lost in the desert like that? Have you dove into a mirage hoping for water, only to find that all it was is sand? Probably not.

Jesus said, “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.” John 7:37-38 and in the Sermon on the Mount he said, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled" Matthew 5:6. We covered hunger yesterday; today I want to talk about thirst. Have you ever really been thirsty? I mean really thirsty. With your heart dry and cracked and hard, and your cries for mercy sticking in your throat? Have you ever just wanted to throw yourself down at the feet of God and beg him for mercy? Have you ever wanted to run into his arms or climb into his lap and just be enveloped by him, to get as much of him as you can? To drink your fill, guzzle it down until you’re satisfied? Have you ever tried to quench your thirst with something else and come away even more thirsty than when you started? Have you ever run full tilt toward a mirage and dove in only to find all you gained was a mouth full of gritty dry sand?

Come to Jesus, and he will give you living water, so that you will never thirst again. Not only will you never thirst again, you will be so filled that streams of living water will flow from within you.

All who are thirsty

All who are weak

Come to the fountain

Dip your heart in the stream of life

Let the pain and the sorrow

Be washed away

In the waves of his mercy

As deep cries out to deep

Kutless "All Who are thirsty"