Pastor Shawn shared from John 7 about a path to God’s presence which is synonymous with the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Jesus came to the feast with no fanfare. He was immersed in the throngs of people who watched as the priests carried their water-filled jars to the temple, pouring it on the altar. This was done to remember how God had miraculously saved Israel when they had been near death in the wilderness.
The feasts in Jesus’ day were a time where people stepped up their rituals, took greater care in their appearance and modified their behavior – all in an attempt to experience God. Not that much has changed for us today. We still go through religious rituals that we hope will serve as a go-between us and God; an introduction of sorts. We alter how we carry ourselves and change how we look with the hopes of attracting God’s blessing. And finally, we modify our behavior in an attempt to “earn” a place of God’s favor. But just as the Israelites were in need of life-giving water, so we too are parched in a dry and weary land where the only source of sustenance requires God’s intervening presence.
Jesus cried out because He knew that religious rituals, changing how we look and modifying behavior would not allow us to meet with God. There was a wall of sin separating us and nothing short of divine intervention could suffice. “So God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:17
The water in the wilderness satisfied Israel temporarily, but they thirsted again. However, God intends for us to have an eternal relationship that was characterized by an overflowing of the Spirit living within. And the only means of relationship with God is possible is when we gaze upon the crucified Christ. We behold His glory when we are given a bird’s-eye-view of His suffering and accepting it as our own sacrifice is believing in the glory of God. This serves as a doorway into relationship with Him, which opens the door to us overflowing with the Holy Spirit.
As we are continually filled with the living waters of the Spirit, His presence not only resides within us, but those waters will also come flowing out and touch the lives of those around us. The Spirit can use our lives to awaken the spiritual thirst of those who are far from Him. They get to dip their toe at the edge of God’s ocean of limitless love and transforming power through the living waters that proceed from us as we overflow with the Holy Spirit. This all starts with us beholding and believing in the glory of God through the crucified Christ.
This lent season may we gaze afresh on the crucified Christ and resolve to make the practical daily choices needed to keep Jesus at the center of our everyday lives!
Pastor Sandy Anderson