Give The Gift Of Living Water

Living Water

In John 4 Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well and said to her. "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you give me a drink. You would have asked of Him and He would have given you living water". Again in John 7:37-38 Jesus is talking about "Living Water", He says "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water." So what is this "living water" that Jesus talks about? Well the next sentence, John 7:39 tells us, This He spoke concerning the Holy Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive. So let me give you a context of what Jesus said this on these two events. In the first event Jesus is talking to a woman, one on one, telling her that if you drink of this well water you will be physically satisfied for a time but the body will continue to thirst. In other words the things of the world will only satisfy for a short time. But if you believe in me you will find a drink of salvation that bring everlasting life. It is spoken of in Isaiah 12:3 "Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." What Jesus is talking about if you believe in Him you will be saved and receive the Holy Spirit in you.

Now in John 7 Jesus is in a large crowd during the last day of the feast of Tabernacles and he talks again of living water. To understand this event we need to understand what was taking place on that day at the feast of Tabernacles. The Tabernacles feast or celebration was held every year to remember the time the Israelites spent in the desert and followed God. Tabernacles are small temporary structures like tents. The Israelites would come into Jerusalem from all over to celebrate and they would put up these small tent like structures and stay in them for a week. Each day the priests of the temple would go down to the pool of Siloam with a clay vessel and get water and bring it back to the temple and pour it out on the ground as a drink offering to commemorate or remember when God in the desert gave them water out of the rock as seen in Exodus 17. But what of that rock in the desert? Well Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:4 "All drank of the same spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ."

So on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles they did something different. On the last day the high priest would take a golden vessel down to the pool of Siloam (sent one) and fill it up and then he would march up to the temple with it and enter through the south or "water" gate. The Water Gate had special eschatological significance because it was identified by some rabbis as the south gate of Ezekiel’s Temple through which the water of life would flow to all the land as seen in the prophecy of Ezek 47:1-5(more on that latter). Then the high priest would pour out the water in front of the alter, and the high priest would read this verse from Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground: I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring. Now this last day of the feast is called the Hoshannah (save now) Rabbah. This last day speaks of the future and the prophecy of the coming Messiah. Now the high priest would lead them in a prayer for the coming of Messiah. So in this context as people are praying for the coming sent one who is going pour out the spirit Jesus stood up in the crowd with thousands there gathered in the city and said "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water." Wow! As they prayed for Him to come Jesus proclaimed that he was among them, the "Sent One" had arrived. So at first he told an individual (woman at the well) that she would have living water in her. But here Jesus speaks of a river flowing out of us. This is seen in the prophecy of Ezekiel 47. Here Ezekiel saw a river flowing out of the temple coming out from under the altar and it became a wide river that flows and brings life. This is the spirit flowing out of us The temple equates our body. And the source is the altar or sacrifice. And as Ezekiel walks the water gets deeper and deeper. Just like as we get farther in our walk the spirit gets to flow more and soon it is a stream in which we can no longer touch bottom and it flows and takes us. So there is a picture of two parts to the filling of the Holy Spirit. The first is so we no longer thirst, so we have the drink of salvation. But the second is when the Spirit flows out and gives life to others. When all we do is hold the water it stagnates with time. But when we let it flow out to others we can receive more and it becomes a flowing river. So ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit and then look to give the gift to others.

If this interested you here is a link to an incredible man who teaches this in a far superior and dynamic way than I can. So check it out http://www.joncourson.com/teaching/teachingsplay.asp?teaching=S514

So now that we have talked of a Spiritual drink and a sacrifice that starts the flow of the Spirit in your life. Here is a place to give in a sacrificial way, and to give a physical drink to those who don't even have that. Millions of people on the earth don't have clean water to drink. Over 4500 children will die today of water-related diseases, but and you can help. There is a non-profit organization called Charity Water.

Charity Water brings safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects. They have helped thousands and have already funded more than 3800 projects worldwide. So here is a link where you can be a part of it. After all Jesus said as you do to the least of these you do to Me. http://www.charitywater.org/