37On 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. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" 39Now 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.
This is probably a fairly familiar passage, but it's one of those that are always worth many looks. A few weeks ago I read this, and was confronted by the fact that "rivers of living water" flowing from my heart does not often describe my walk with God. Does it for you?
I can't say exactly what that would be, but I think I'd know it if I were experiencing it. And I know that there are times in my life when I do. But those often seem few and far between. Some of the things that I have experienced, or picture experiencing when I read the phrase "rivers of living water" are deep, unexplainable joy and peace, contentment in spite of any circumstance, zeal and passion to make Jesus known, a burden for the lost and for prayer, the security and love of a tangible, deep connection with God, conviction over my sin and brokenness. Now, I don't want to make you think that our walk is based on feelings or emotions - these are fleeting and it can be dangerous to base our connection with God on them. There are seasons when they are strong, and seasons when we feel dry or "in the wilderness", so to speak, but our standing before God doesn't change. Our relationship with Him is eternally secure in Christ, because of His finished work on the cross and the free gift of salvation He gives when we come to Him and believe. What this passage indicates though, is that as we run to Christ to have our thirsts satisfied, we will experience these "rivers of living water" produced by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus calls us to come to Him and drink when we thirst. I wrote this in my journal as I pondered this passage:
"I certainly thirst, but so often go to find water in empty or polluted places. Being a metaphor for our spiritual thirst - my thirsts are for significance, affirmation, assurance, rest, peace, joy, satisfaction, righteousness, confidence, courage, truth, knowledge. Everything I do is in some way tied to my thirsting for these things."
Maybe your thirsts are similar, maybe they are for other things. But we all thirst, and we all seek to quench those thirsts constantly. I try to be funny so people will laugh and I'll feel significant. I have quiet times and pray so I'll feel righteous before God. I do things I'm good at so I can brag about it and have affirmation about myself. Almost every action we do or motivation we have is tied to some thirst we have at our core. How often do we seek to have these thirsts quenched in places that won't ultimately quench them?
Sure, some of the things we do may give us a quick relief from thirst, but it always returns. When people laugh at me or notice something I do well, I feel good about it and a bit of that significance or affirmation I crave is felt, but it doesn't last. My heart just craves more of it. It's like drinking soda (pop) - it might quench our thirst at first but it somewhat dehydrates us and we soon just want more and more of it, when pure water is going to give us a more lasting relief from that thirst.
Jesus gives Himself as the answer - the only answer - to those deep thirsts in our heart. He alone can satisfy our deepest needs. He may sometimes use those things we run to to find thirst, like people affirming us for example, but when we skip over Him and run straight to them our thirst isn't ultimately met. We need to go to Him and allow Him to quench our thirst in whatever way He will.
Our hearts come with a natural thirst that we feel every day. Jesus is given as the perfect provision of that thirst. He frees us from sin, bestows on us righteousness, declares us significant and perfect, affirms us as His child, provides for our needs - both physical and spiritual, calls us to significant, eternally valuable work, leads us to life-giving community, strengthens us in our weakness, gives us courage to face our giants, gently and persistently transforms us into His likeness, gives rest for our souls, uses us to influence others toward Him, heals our deepest hurts, teaches us truth through His Word, brings us joy and peace that are impossible without Him, meets with us when we are alone, guides us when we need direction, and is constantly with us in the Person of the Holy Spirit. I've been so blessed to experience many of these things firsthand, and I'd bet that you have too if you've come to know and follow Him. Yet our hearts still run naturally and subtly to other things before Him! How fickle our hearts are - like the line in 'Come Thou Fount' - "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love". This just indicates that we constantly need Him, not just at the moment of our salvation. God knows this, and His Spirit is provision for that moment-by-moment need.
We need to continue to remind ourselves of this need, surround ourselves with people who will encourage us to run to Jesus, and redirect and train our hearts to go to Jesus to quench our thirsts. Otherwise they won't be met. I wrote this in my journal as well:
"And so where do I go? I don't think it's about eliminating external distractions - my heart will find something to be distracted by no matter what, even using good things like prayer. Discipline is needed, but carefully tied to and guarded by a continual reminder of the truth and of why the discipline is being pursued, lest discipline becomes duty or legalism. Hiding this Scripture in my heart will help, as a reminder of the ultimate provision - Jesus - for my need, and as an antidote to a legalistic mentality.
This is our continued struggle, to run to Jesus instead of the great many other things before us. It's just as real and difficult now as when we first came to Christ. Thankfully, Jesus promises to help, and given His Spirit as provision, as conviction, as counselor, as guide, and Jesus will Shepherd us beside quiet waters and restore our soul."
As I meditated on these things, I also realized how easy it can be to fall into the mentality that Jesus is the means to and end. That He's the means to giving us what we really need or want - those being significance or satisfaction or even salvation. We do have those thirsts and needs, but Jesus IS the end, not just a means for us to get them. Notice that Jesus doesn't say "come to me and I'll give you what you really need", He says "come to me and drink", and as a result these rivers of living water will start to flow. He's what our hearts really want, not the means to get there. HE is our significance, our confidence, our satisfaction. It's so easy to think along the lines of "I have Jesus so I can have salvation and eternal life". But in reality we are given eternal life and salvation so we can have Jesus. In John 17:3 Jesus defines eternal life as a relationship with God. He is who we all need. He is the end we are running after. And so all we do - things in our personal walk like spiritual disciplines, church, Cru, etc. - we do so to get more of Jesus. Not to get more satisfaction or significance or righteousness. Same with ministry - everything we do, we do so that the thirsty hearts of people on campus all around us can have Jesus. HE is the end. Everything we do ought to be solely about Him, glorifying Him and bringing ourselves, our friends, the lost souls on campus to Him, for He is all they need. He's the sole focus of our lives and our ministry.
So to bring this cross-country flight in for a landing, let me encourage you to be honest and identify what your thirsts are, and where you are running to have them met. Then confess that and repent of it before God - when we run to other things it's a form of idolatry - and ask Him to meet those needs, and continually guide you to run to Him and not those other things. Pray for the Holy Spirit to fill you. And continue to examine your heart and where it's running moment-by-moment, to point it back to Jesus. Let Him be the sole focus of your life and ministry.
For more on this topic, find a copy of the "Satisfied" booklet. Ask me or another staff for it, or find an online version here. And if you're really curious, this article can help too.
Stay thirsty my friends,
Jason
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