He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water John 7:38
There's that verse again!
I'm thinking about rivers again today. How they start out small and unassuming....quite often a small stream in the mountains. The other thing I'm thinking about is how this small stream was just itself...allowing the waters to flow and bless others-tadpoles, minnows, little children playing, someone stooping during a hike to fill a water filter for a drink...someone's garden...or simply watering the grasses and wild flowers along it's bank. That stream isn't thinking..."I wish I were of some use in this world...like the Nile or the Mississippi!" or thinking this, "When am I ever going to grow big so I can really be something?" That stream simply flows and keeps flowing and blesses so many around it...even when the world hardly thinks about it.
God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
Sometimes a stream encounters a fallen log or a piles of rocks...for a while it might seem like the stream will stop there and become stagnant. But it doesn't stop for long...the building power and strength of the water either break the barrier or find a way around it. However, it would become stagnant if the source of the stream ceased to flow into it. That is the way with us if we don't keep at our source: Jesus Christ.
The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience— nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.
I think this is quite a challenge-to stay at the source of the river that flows through us. I get distracted, overly confident in myself, lazy, or just plain indifferent sometimes. There is no room for this in a river that flows! It is a daily battle to keep believing and looking to Him.
Photo by Jarlhelm :The stream in Teuchl, Austria. Wikimedia Commons
This has been a dry year in NY State. A friend traveled to Ithaca and had her picture taken at Taughannock Falls State Park, but there was no water coming over the precipice. A pretty vivid picture of why we need the constant flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
ReplyDeleteGreat analogy!
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