01/22/2018
Jesus is like a fountain, or a spring, out of which forgiveness flows. He is not a spigot from which life is turned off and on when we need to wash ourselves, or draw a drink. Do you only approach Him when you think you need cleansing or to receive refreshment for your spirit, and faith?
“"On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.”
Zechariah 13:1 ESV
My grandfather had a farm, and on this farm was a spring. The spring that rose out of the ground on his farm was continuous, that is it never ran dry, and flowing from it was a small creek that ran down the valley between two ridges and joined with other such flowing brooks until a stream was formed, and then a river that flowed into the sea.
Jesus is a spring that bubbles forth in our lives. He changes the dry parched land that once surrounded Him into a lush and fragrant green paradise. He washes the ground over which He flows until it glistens beneath His clear waters and the dirt that once covered it is carried away... leaving stones and rocks of all colors smoothed ever so perfectly by His coursing. He runs across them, around them, smoothing them, and in good time enabling them to accommodate His passing without resistance.
Jesus changes our lives when He rises up within us, and His is a continuous flow that doesn’t depend on the ebbs and flows of everyday life to maintain Himself; He shapes the world around us and washes our dirt away. He is not like the water from a wet weather spring that comes and goes.
“Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."”
John 4:13-14 ESV
Jesus not only provides for us as the worldly springs do, but He opens up everlasting new springs from within us, thus conforming us to His image. He calls us to drink His living water, and beckons us all to become a refreshment for the world.
“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.”
John 7:37 ESV
There was a spring on my grandfather’s farm, and there were living springs that gushed from within my grandparents. The farm flourished from the water which bubbled from the ground beneath it, but generations rose up from the living water seeded into every child that drank the living water that flowed from those who tilled it.
Don’t be fooled by wet weather springs that might rise up in your life; they appear to be useful, but only bubble forth while the rains are upon the earth, and then dry up to nothing when the seasonal showers end; leaving the ground parched once again. Drink the living waters of Christ, let them cleanse you, smooth the stones of your character, and wash the dirt from around them. Let this fountain refresh you and bring new water flowing from within for others to drink. These streams are eternal, and flow into eternity as they follow the valleys of our lives.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.”
Hebrews 13:8-9 ESV
So listen to Jesus as He invites you to drink, and refresh yourself, your life, by tasting the eternal water of life He offers. Accept His cup that carries in it forgiveness for your sin. Allow Him to smooth your character, refresh your faith, and connect you to the one true God; the ocean of eternity.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the fountain of Jesus Christ, and the living water He provides this parched world. I thank you for providing a spring that gushes forth without end, and whose promise lives now and forever. I thank you for my grandparents who accepted a drink of the living water of Christ, and became springs to me and to all those who came to know them. Help me Lord as the water of Jesus that now flows from me, and calls out to my children... “Come Drink!” Let the smooth stones of my character bear witness of His flow in my life, and make their walk behind me easy. Holy Father, let the water that glistens above them cool to their feet, and quench their thirst as they walk this way... the way of faith in your Son Jesus Christ.
For this we praise you Father, and for your Son Jesus we thank you... He is our redeemer, our savior, and from His side flows the cool water of your grace and mercy... now and forever more.
Rich Forbes