Diane and I spent a few days in Marfa for our wedding anniversary. This little town is in the Chihuahuan Desert region of southwest Texas. The hillsides were green and little flowers were blooming. Of course, that’s only because we’re still in the month of May and rains have fallen every afternoon for several days now. As the spring season gives way to summer, rainless days will turn the desert vegetation brown and brittle.
Jesus said you need him like living things need water. He said this right after the water ceremony that ended the Feast of Tabernacles. Just when the priest finished pouring a vase of water at the base of the altar, Jesus stood and shouted, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:38).
The Old Testament people always longed for that day in the future when God would move in life-giving ways throughout the entire world. We see this longing in Ezekiel 47, where the prophet had a vision of the heavenly temple. He saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple, and it got deeper and wider as it flowed out from there.
As the priest poured out water at the base of the Temple altar on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, it was a longing for that vision to be fulfilled. God’s people looked toward the time when God’s presence and power would flow from the point of sacrifice to change the whole world.
In John 7, Jesus was claiming to be the fulfillment of that hope.
Those who come to Jesus right now begin to feel his presence guiding us, encouraging us, and empowering us. As wonderful as that is, it is only the beginning. A day is coming when not just our souls but our world will be gloriously changed as the presence of God flows through the whole created order like a river! All broken things will be fixed, all the unjust scales will be balanced, and all the heartbreak will be mended.
Let’s look at this great promise from John 7:37-39 this Sunday. We meet online or on campus starting at 10am. Find out more at www.hillcrest.church.
--Tom
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