John 7:37-52

Be Still: Heavenly Father, please quiet my heart now so I can hear your words of life for me today. Amen

Read: John 7: 37-52

‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ (v38)

Encounter: In the UK we are well used to large amounts of rain and, while I don’t always appreciate those rainy days, I do know that without it we would not have the fields and ‘pastures green’ that make this land so beautiful. We know water brings refreshing, growth and flourishing; the simple fact is -- we need it to live.

In our reading today, we find Jesus in the temple courts in Jerusalem, on the last day of the great ‘Feast of Tabernacles’, one of the three key festivals in Jewish tradition. On this day, amongst other rituals, a flagon of water was poured out by the high priest, symbolising the pouring out of the Holy Spirit to come in the last days. And now, Jesus clearly tells them that he is the source of that water representing the Spirit; he is the One they have been waiting for – he is standing there right in the middle of them.

There is an invitation – to Jesus’ listeners, and to us today. If we acknowledge that we are thirsty, there is a wonderful, refreshing solution: we come to him and as we do, the Spirit is poured out, more than enough to satisfy our longings and quench our spiritual thirst and drought.

Apply: This invitation still stands for us today. Are you thirsty for purpose or peace or strength or wisdom? Perhaps you are thirsty to know the reality of God in your everyday life? The good news is that we can come to Jesus and simply ask for this ‘living water’ to be poured out over us again… and again… and again.

Devote: ‘Come to me and drink.' Thank you so much, Lord Jesus, that you are the living water that satisfies now and forever. Please pour out your Spirit on me again today.