Anchor My Faith

Come to Jesus if You Thirst

Scripture: John 7:37-39

We ended the previous lesson with the temple police on their way to arrest Jesus. While we wait for them to arrive, Jesus continues to teach.

^{Jn 7:37} “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.”

We are at the last day of the feast and the temple police still have not made their appearance. Maybe they have arrived, but when they hear Jesus teaching they stop and listen and they hear him say, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” and they continue to listen to learn what that might mean.

Looking back to Isaiah 55:1 (ESV), we read, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” In its context, it is the Lord who is speaking, and he is inviting everyone who thirsts to come to the waters. The waters spoken of here is the water that is drawn from the wells of salvation (Isaiah 12:3) and those who thirst are those who thirst for God.

During the conversation with the Samaritan woman, at Jacob’s well, Jesus speaks of living water and, in our text, he defines this living water as the Holy Spirit. To drink this water means to believe in Jesus, to enter into a trusting, ongoing personal relationship with him. The imagery of “coming” to Jesus is like one coming into a relationship with another, and of “drinking” implies more that mere intellectual assent and would include wholehearted personal involvement and participation.

For the meaning of “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water,” we need to look back to Proverbs 4:23 and Isaiah 58:11. Proverbs 4:23 (ESV) reads: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” What we keep in our heart determines how we will live. If our heart is evil, what comes out of it will defile us (Mark 7:20), but if the heart is right with God and contains his word, then from the heart will flow springs of life in the form of words and behavior under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that will encourage others to walk with Jesus.

Isaiah 58:11 (ESV) reads: “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” As we walk through life we will be guided, and our desires satisfied by the work God does on our behalf. That work is described here to be like a spring of water that supplies a garden; a spring that never fails.

Conclusion

This living water that Jesus speaks of is the Holy Spirit, who had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet ascended to glory in heaven. The Holy Spirit was sent and came at Pentecost, so as believers we are springs of living water to those around us. How well is your spring flowing?