John 7:37-39 (ESV)
Rivers of Living Water
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
“Terms of Use Agreement”. You’ve probably seen that phrase before when you sign up to use a service like an app on your phone or a streaming service for your TV like Netflix or Amazon Prime.
A “Terms of Use Agreement” is a written set of rules and regulations between two parties; rules and regulations which the User must agree to in order to use an app, website, streaming service, or any similar kind of service.
If you’ve ever bothered to look at these agreements, you’ll notice that they are usually filled with legal language and they can be quite lengthy in content.
In fact, the agreements are so long and complicated that most people don’t bother to read through them at all and simply click “I agree” so that they can get on with using the service.
I often think that it would be great if there was a simple summary statement at the end of these agreements so that I could clearly understand what I’m getting and what I might be giving away as I agree to the terms of use. Just make it simple.
“Making things simple”, that’s what I was thinking about as I read these three verses because that’s exactly what Jesus does as He shouts out an incredible offer on the last day of the feast.
First, the simplest of conditions. Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts”; all that’s required is for a person to be thirsty. That’s it, no other qualifications are listed; no special actions, no special attitudes, no exceptional commitments or conditions, and no pre-qualifications are required in order to receive. You just have to be needy; you just have to be thirsty.
Second, the simplest invitation; “come to me and drink”. If you’re thirsty, Jesus says, come to Me and drink. The only thing you need to do is simply confess your need and then Jesus, who makes this incredible invitation, invites you to come and drink your fill!
Third, the simplest act; trust Jesus. That’s it; nothing more is required. I love Dale Bruner’s remarks on this in his commentary. He wrote, “adding adjectives or adverbs to trusting like ‘totally’, ‘utterly’, or ‘completely’ should never be done.
When we do add such words we turn trust into an inner work, turn the gift into a trophy, and thus ruin the gospel.”
All one need do is admit their need and Jesus will satisfy the very thirst of their soul (yours and mine too!). The Holy Spirit will come flooding in, living water, which will not only quench our thirst but overflow in abundance to others.
We’ve already seen that happening in John’s Gospel. It happened with the Samaritan woman back in chapter four, it’s happening with Nicodemus from chapter three, it’s happening with the disciples, and it’s happening with some in the crowd who are beginning to believe and trust Jesus.
By the way, in case you missed it, the invitation is open to anyone.
If you’re thirsty, tell Jesus, and your thirst will be satisfied. His peace, love, joy, goodness, compassion, gentleness, mercy, and grace—His very presence—will flood into your life through the gift of the Spirit.
God bless you and know that you are constantly in my prayers.
Scott