There’s nothing quite like a nice, cool glass of water when you’re outside in the blazing hot sun.
I live in the state of Florida. Its nickname is “The Sunshine State” because, well, you know. But in the summer months, along with sunshine comes stifling, oppressive, humid and overwhelming HEAT! It’s not like the heat you find in desert places. Even though those places may be hotter, the heat is palpably drier. It is much more tolerable.
But in FLORIDA – look out! You can walk outside on a July day and be drenched in sweat in a matter of minutes. It’s taken me longer to get wet in the shower! And working out of doors on those days is an exercise in fluid management. You’ve got to keep drinking. A lot. Because if you don’t, you can find yourself battling the nausea, light-headedness, fatigue, muscle cramping and dizziness of heat exhaustion. I’m not a doctor, and I don’t play one on TV, but I can tell you this – if you ignore those symptoms you’ll get heat stroke. And that could be the last problem you ever have to deal with in life. Hundreds of people die every year from heat stroke, and it’s a totally preventable condition.
You may be getting thirsty just reading this !!!!
Well, the medical lesson is done, but that is the intro to today’s verse.
ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN ME MAY COME TO ME AND DRINK!
FOR THE SCRIPTURES DECLARE, “RIVERS OF LIVING WATER WILL FLOW FROM HIS HEART.”
The speaker of today’s verse is Jesus Himself. He’s not standing on the streets of Jerusalem hawking cold water like a salesman, hoping to make a few extra shekels from the tourists crowding the city. It’s much more significant than that. This morning, we’re going to consider why.
Let me set the stage for you. The scene is Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles, a celebration of provision and presence. Provision because it is a harvest festival; the final harvest of the growing season in Israel. It’s a reminder of God’s harvest, His feeding and watering His people as they traveled through the desert. There’s an incredible amount of imagery in this feast, just like there is in the Passover and the other feast of the Lord; but today we’re just going to focus on the water.
But before we get to that, I need to draw your attention to something. It’s the subject of names.
Most names mean something. There are some common names with really great meanings, but they are not obvious. One of the most common names in the world is John, but most people probably have no idea that the name means “God is gracious.” Ahmed is one of the most common Arabic names in the world, and it means “thankful.” (I didn’t know that until I looked it up!) I’m one of the ten million people in the world with the name Robert, and I have no idea how many of us know what it means. Dorothy comes from two Greek words – ‘doron’ which means ‘gift’ and ‘theos’ which means ‘God.’ So Dorothy means “Gift of God.” I’ll bet you didn’t know that, even if you have that name! (Or that the name Theodore is made from the same Greek words in reverse order.)
But some names tell their own story. You’ve probably known a girl named Faith, Summer, Ginger, or Grace. The meaning of those names is contained in the names themselves. Perhaps you know a young man named Cooper, Hunter or Earl. Obvious meanings, at least in English.
Jesus, or “Yeshua” as He would have been called in His native language of Hebrew, was a name with an obvious meaning. It didn’t mean “hunter” in Hebrew, or someone who made barrels, like Cooper. The name Jesus was the word “SALVATION.” Literally “GOD SAVES.”
Now let’s tie it into the verse — and I think you’ll be amazed.
On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests at the temple were divided into three groups for the major offering. The High Priest would lead one of those divisions, exit the southern gate of the city carrying a gold vase, and walk to the Pool of Siloam. There was flowing water there, which was called “living water.” He would fill the vase with living water and walk back to the gate, and another priest carrying a silver vase filled with wine waited by a second gate. As the two got to their positions, trumpets made from rams horns would be blown to signal their entry into the city; and people gathered in the temple courts, dancing with joy as they came.
As the high priest and his assistant ascend the altar, the people start singing the song from Isaiah 12, saying, “With joy we will draw water out of the well of salvation.” The altar has a bowl built into each of the two front corners where the horns of the altar are, each with a hole in the bottom of it. The high priest takes his vase and pours its contents on one of the front comers of the altar where the horns are. The other priest pours the wine at the other front corner. The water and the wine mingle and flow at the front of the altar, just as water and blood flowed out of Christ’s side as He was pierced by the lance.
Get this picture in your mind. The priests are pouring out their water and wine. The people are circling and singing,”With joy we will draw water out of the well of salvation.” But THE LAST WORD of the song they are singing is “YESHUA” – and He’s standing there in the temple !!!
While they’re singing about finding water and drawing it with joy, on the last and greatest day of the festival, SALVATION stands and shouts in a loud voice –
ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN ME MAY COME TO ME AND DRINK!
FOR THE SCRIPTURES DECLARE, “RIVERS OF LIVING WATER WILL FLOW FROM HIS HEART.”
He was talking about the Spirit! He was speaking about you and I being filled with the Holy Spirit of God, and having His strength flowing in us.
Living today is like surviving in the summer months of Florida. All of the battles and problems of life can be stifling, oppressive, and overwhelming. It’s like a burning HEAT!
If you want to survive, you need water !! A lot. You can get it from others, of course. But it’s much better if you have rivers of Living Water flowing from your own heart.
Without living water, you’ll find yourself battling the nausea of life and its disgusting displays of hatred and violence, or the light-headedness that can come from worldly fame and fortune. Life is long and hard, and without living water you’ll succumb to fatigue and exhaustion.
I’m not a doctor, I’m just a guy who knows Jesus; but I can tell you this – if you ignore Him, life will dry you out and exhaust you. And one day, sooner or later, you will die without the LIVING WATER of Jesus and His Holy Spirit inside you. And it’s a totally preventable condition.
Are you thirsty yet ???
ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN ME MAY COME TO ME AND DRINK!
FOR THE SCRIPTURES DECLARE, “RIVERS OF LIVING WATER WILL FLOW FROM HIS HEART.”
