My Life as a River

Week 24

My Life as a River

One day Jesus met a woman at a well, he had a conversation with her even though he, as a Jew, should not have spoken with her, a Samaritan. He told her that he could give her living water. “whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14.

What was this living water he spoke of and how can we have it? In John 7:37-39 Jesus tells us. “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.”

Do you believe? If you do, the Spirit of God is living in you and you have access to this living water.

The source of this living water is Jesus. He said if we were thirsty we could come to him. What did he mean by thirsty? I believe that those who seek God, those who know there is more to life than mere existence, those are the ones who are thirsty. We want more and we find more in Jesus. As the source of our existence we realize our need for him. We are sinful creatures, we are lost sheep without him. He becomes our means of support. 

Our bodies are composed mostly of water and we need water to live. We need Jesus to live an abundant life. Believing in him is only the beginning of our living life to the fullest. As we begin to trust in him and our relationship with him grows, the water within us springs to life and a continual flow comes forth. As long as we remain in a relationship with him.

The Holy Spirit longs for us to know more about Jesus and about God. Isaiah 58:11 says, “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

What happens to those around us as we begin to flow in the spirit? We touch so many people in the course of our lives. And we have the potential to minister from the flow that we have within us. Just how can we let the life-giving water within us affect others? It is almost like we don’t even have to think about how this will happen. It just does. It is a natural progression and sometimes we don’t even realize the affect we have on those around us.

In the spring of 2002, I wrote a series of articles focusing on cancer survivors for The News Democrat. The articles were in preparation of the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. The first article was about a lady with breast cancer. She wanted to stress the importance of self-exams to women. 

Fast forward one year, the lady I had interviewed was at the Relay for Life the following year. She wanted to share with me that a woman told her that as a result of that newspaper article, she strongly felt that she should do a self-exam. She found a lump, went to the doctor and found out that it was a very aggressive form of cancer. She is being treated successfully, but had she not found the lump when she did, it may have been much harder to treat.

I don’t take credit for any of this, but God’s Holy Spirit flowing through me led me to the lady to interview. That same spirit prompted her to share her story and stress self-exam. The same spirit flowed into the lady who read the article and spoke to her about what to do.

We never know how this life-giving flow will affect us, the people around us or those who come after us. In Isaiah we read, “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” Isaiah 44:3. This passage speaks about the continual flow from the Spirit. It is one that doesn’t stop flowing just because I die and pass on to the next life. The Spirit within me will flow on to my descendants.

Things that my grandma Fisher did were shared by my mother until her death. The life my mother lived is now being shared by my sisters and her grandchildren. I am encouraged and strengthened to know that my grandmother was such a good hearted Christian woman. She left a legacy of love. Every Christian does that. Someone left behind shares a memory or quotes them. Sometimes it is a favorite hymn that is shared or a poem. Our memories just keep flowing on through life.

In Revelation, John hears these words from Jesus. “He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To him who is thirsty I will give a drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’” Revelation 21:6-7. 

Again we hear similar words in Revelation 22:17, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

It’s free, it’s available to anyone who wants it and it lasts forever. Can the world offer us anything even half as good? God has provided us with this pure, clear water that amounts to everlasting life. Why don’t we drink it?

If you believe that Christ Jesus died for your sins, if you believe that he is alive today, you have the life-giving Spirit within you already. It will flow through your life continually and it will also flow into the lives of others. Share the life in you with others every chance you get.

Heavenly Father,

We give you praise and we thank you for your holy Spirit that has become part of us. We are so grateful for the love that you have for us and for the opportunities you give us to share your love with others. We look forward to the time when we will see Jesus face to face and be able to thank him for the gift he has given us. We bless you Lord and we thank you for blessing us. In the beautiful name of Jesus we pray. Amen