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by Sandy Shaw
Can you imagine the apostle John in his 90’s telling all this to the dear disciples in Ephesus? What John is writing about here in John Chapter 7, they had personally experienced. He is writing about that day when Jesus Christ called out with a loud voice in Jerusalem during the closing day of the Feast of Tabernacles.
If you are thirsty, come to Me and drink. Come and take a sip from Me, and that sip will be transformed into a never ending reservoir. That is the picture being given.
It was in March 1969, when Jesus Christ gave me that amazing sip, when He baptised me in the Holy Spirit, and let me testify to the fact and reality all these years later, that it has lasted. If it had not been for that, I think I would have left ‘the ministry’ many years ago. If it had not been for that reality, I would have left what was known as the ‘Charismatic Renewal’ and run far away from all ‘Pentecostal connections’. I cannot. It was, and is, far too real.
Drink from Jesus Christ, and then you can pour.
Before you can pour, you have to make sure that you believe in Jesus Christ according to the Scripture – the Jesus of the Bible. This is so important.
Be thirsty and drink deeply. As the Holy Spirit wells up inside you, He will soon overflow and pour from you. Be thirsty. Only those who are desperate will drink as Jesus wants them to drink. And also, be hungry for the Word. It doesn’t matter how sumptuous the feast is, or how well it is laid out, if no-one is hungry, no-one will eat.
Be thirsty for Jesus and be hungry for His Word. Have a good healthy appetite for spiritual things.
Jesus is speaking about the Holy Spirit. He has been speaking of something that would happen in six months, but we do not have to wait.
Look at their terribly ordinary reactions – a prophet like Moses – or a king like David. They debated. They discussed. I have met reactions like this, and it is so sad to see.
All these people had been at a ‘conference’ for eight days and Jesus saw they were unsatisfied and thirsty. Jesus exposes the religious poverty. It was a spiritual wasteland at that time, but bring a river to a desert, and it provides a refreshing oasis.
We are called to be walking oasis. Where there are rivers, there is life. Where there are rivers there is constant change. A river can cut through solid rock and take unexpected turns. The cutting can be painful and humbling as the river deals with what is below the surface. Rivers normally go deep before they go wide.
“Flash flood experiences” do not normally do much to improve circumstances. We are called to shine and not merely ‘flash’.
Note how even when threatened and rejected and on the point of being condemned, Jesus continues to offer Himself. Jesus desires and longs to fill man’s spiritual emptiness and barrenness.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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