here are so many things that we take for granted
every day in our modern world, that we do not realize how important they are to us until
they are taken away from us. For example, every time you open a water tap you expect water
to gush out for you. You never stop to think where this water comes from and you do not
get too excited about having it, because it is such a cheap and common product. But just
see what happens when something goes wrong with the water supply and you have to go
without it for a day. Suddenly that thing which you took for granted and did not think was
very important begins to take on a new value to you. You will be amazed at how much you
depend on it, and how restricted you are when you do not have it.
Water is the most important fluid in the earth. Every living thing is made up of matter
that contains a large percentage of it. You can go for a long time without food if you
have to - people have fasted for long periods without any ill effects. But no one can go
longer than three days without water before they start to suffer severe damage to life.
Without water life just would not exist. Perhaps this is why the Scriptures speak so much
about water, and why water is one of the most common symbols used for the Holy
Spirit. You see the Holy Spirit is to our spiritual life just like water is to our
natural life. Without the Spirit of God you will have no spiritual life, and without His
presence in your life you would experience spiritual death.
Let's consider where our water comes from and how we go about obtaining it, and see if
we can draw some spiritual parallels. OK so we're going to have another Geography lesson.
Firstly, we know that most of our rivers that carry the water on the earth have a source.
They have a starting point, usually high up in a mountainous area. And from there they
flow downwards towards the sea. Many of the early explorers were driven by a desire to
find the sources of some of the great rivers like the Nile and spent their lives seeking
out the source. What they discovered was that most rivers start small. They might begin
with a simple trickle from the dew that falls in a high place.
Actually the starting point is the evaporation that takes place when the sun shines
down upon the earth. As the water evaporates it becomes a mist that rises up into the sky
to form clouds. Then as these clouds are blown against high ground they rise up into the
atmosphere and begin to cool. This causes them to condense to form droplets of water that
are poured down upon the earth. The water from this causes a trickle to take place in the
high areas. And as that trickle begins to flow, it joins with other such trickles and an
accumulation takes place, which results in a flowing stream. As streams join together and
become rivers and as rivers become tributaries that join a larger river, so a large volume
of water begins to make its way downwards over the earth to the sea.
This is a basic cycle on the earth and takes place every day. We take it for granted
and do not have to do anything to make it happen. It is built into nature. But the same is
not so of the work of the Holy Spirit. For some reason we do not share the passion for
seeking out the source of the flow of God's Spirit in the same way the early explorers
sought to find the sources of the great rivers. If we did we would find that God also
works by fixed principles. When rain does not fall and the rivers run dry we search to
find out what is happening. But when God is not pouring out His Spirit in blessing on us,
we shrug our shoulders and say, "Well it is obviously not His Will for us at this
time."
The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost. Since
that event we should expect that such outpourings should continue to take place. When Paul
first came to Ephesus he asked the disciples there if they had received the Holy Spirit
yet. They were surprised and said they did not know the Holy Spirit existed. Paul did not
say, "Well God obviously doesn't want you to have it yet." He did not encourage
them to wait on the Lord and seek for it. He instructed them in the truth, and then laid
his hands on them so that they could get it. Get what? The outpouring of God's Spirit -
the latter rain spoken of by Joel - the living waters spoken of by Jesus - the power that
Jesus promised His disciples would come to them from the Holy Spirit.
If you are a born again believer then God's Holy Spirit has taken up His home in your
spirit. This means that a source of 'living water' has been placed in you. That source is
like the source of every great river. But it must begin to flow before a river is created.
It must be allowed to trickle out into the earth. Until it does it remains just a stagnant
reservoir. But when it is allowed to flow out it starts to accumulate and if the flow is
maintained, it will eventually start to increase in power and force and it will grow in
size, until it becomes a fast flowing stream. Eventually it will become a mighty river
that cannot be stopped and it will start to bring life to everything around it.
Jesus told the woman at the well that the water He gave her would become a water
source, gushing out and producing eternal life. We saw yesterday that Jesus spoke of
rivers of living water that would flow from our inward parts. Solomon told us the same
thing in Proverbs. He said that our heart is very important and should be guarded, because
it is the source of life. He was speaking about more than the physical organ that pumps
our blood through our bodies. He was speaking about the inward man - the spirit. It is
from our spirits that life flows. If you don't believe me just see what happens when a
person's spirit leaves his body. The body cannot carry on living and dies.
God's Holy Spirit pours the life of God into our spirits. And this life can be caused
to flow out and produce a river of life. But it is not automatic. Like the water in your
home, you have to know where the tap is, and you have to know how to open the tap. And
until you do, you might have the potential to draw water, but you will be dying of thirst.
But if you know how to open the tap, you can not only drink, but you can water the garden
and produce growth. You can cause the water to flow out in all directions. So as you learn
to allow God's power to flow out through you from His Spirit, you can get your own needs
met and you can start to meet the needs of others.
Tomorrow we will have a look at some of the ways we can cause the river of life to flow
out from the Spirit of God through us. Meditate upon the passages of Scripture that use
water as a symbol of the Holy Spirit and see if you can identify some clear principles.
