“On the last day, that great day of the feast,
Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
JOHN 7:37, 38
What the Holy Spirit offers, no amount of good works or religion can provide. The Spirit of God satisfies every deep hunger and thirst. He brings refreshment and restoration to your soul in a way that nothing and nobody else can. If you are weary and need filling, Jesus bids you to come to Him, take a break and drink of the deep waters of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37, 38).
THE MOST WONDERFUL SOUND EVER HEARD WAS ABOUT TO fall on the ears of thousands of people gathered in the temple courts at Jerusalem. The final rituals of a national festival were taking place. All eyes followed a golden vessel filled with water and wine. A drink offering was ready to be poured out to the Lord. A priest lifted the gleaming vessel in the sunshine and paused. Silence fell as the people strained to hear the sacred water splashing into a bronze bowl at the altar. Then came the interruption: a voice not known for 1,000 years a voice that made the spine tingle. It was the voice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He was the Word who had spoken in the beginning and called forth heaven and earth into existence. Now at Jerusalem, He stood and issued a royal and Divine edict, changing the dispensation of God: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37, 38). The age of the Holy Spirit had dawned.
The liberating effect of the Holy Spirit makes it very difficult and often impossible to keep your cool, and there is no need to. There is power in your shout. Give yourself the freedom to celebrate with ecstatic joy. Shout! There are rivers of joy flowing out of your innermost being! (John 7:38; 1 Peter 1:8).
RETURNING TO WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS ABOUT THE HOLY Spirit, the word “rivers” is used repeatedly and describes the ideal for believers. Rivers are symbolic of the Holy Spirit. It was anticipated in Isaiah 58:11: “You shall be . . . like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” A “rivers” experience requires the miracle presence of the Holy Spirit. For many people, exuberance is foreign, unnatural and embarrassing. For those, however, who stand within the Kingdom of God, the culture of the world matters little. In our Kingdom, people shout for joy. We only need to ask one question: If Christ did exactly what He promised and baptized people in the Holy Spirit and fire, what would they be like? Cool, restrained and self-contained? The emblem of God is fire, not a watermelon.