Many of us have witnessed people who have a supernatural quality about them. That was how many people viewed Jesus. They were amazed by his teaching:

The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” (John 7:15)

Jesus revealed the source of His teaching and authority and indicated how God may flow through their lives:

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” (John 7:37)

The great day that John referred to was the culmination of the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a joyous occasion as the crops had been gathered and stored. Each morning there was a solemn procession from the temple mount to the pool of Siloam for a pitcher of water. A priest would fill a pitcher with water as the people sang together from Isaiah 12:3 (Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation).

The procession would return to the Temple Mount with trumpets and great fanfare; there the priest would pour the water into a basin by the altar each day. This was the backdrop in which Jesus gave the invitation with three present tense verbs. The people had tasted religion and ritualism and now Jesus proclaimed the true source of refreshment.

Spiritual thirst is a picture of one of our greatest physical needs – water. A man may live many days without food, but one cannot survive long without water. The next verse parallels the verb drink with the word believe, which is also in the present tense, conveying the sense to keep on believing in Me:

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)

There are several Scriptures that refer to God as the source of living water; perhaps Jesus was referring to Jeremiah 2:13 or 17:13 that describe God as the fountain of living water. After Jesus ascended, the Holy Spirit came to indwell His people. Jesus described God’s Spirit as rivers, not simply a trickle of water. Is God’s living water flowing through your life? The living water is then identified in the next verse:

But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:39)

Jesus did not leave us alone, we now have the indwelling Holy Spirit living within us. The promise of the Holy Spirit is presented later in John’s gospel:

And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22)

Are there any hindrances to God’s Holy Spirit to flowing through your life? God’s desire is for His Spirit to flow through your life like a mighty river.

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

Follow me on twitter:  rickhiggins5