Daily Encouragementنموونە

“Streams of living water will flow from within him.” What a marvellous picture of the Christian life as it is meant to be. “There is nothing of the piety of the pond about Christianity,” says Leon Morris. These sublimely simple words fulfil God’s promises in Scripture, are the consummation of Old Testament ritual and point to the suffering and glory of Jesus on the cross and the wonder of Pentecost.

In order to have a Christian influence one has to be a Christian. We have to taste the water of life ourselves before we can offer it to others; we have to assuage our own thirst before we can help others to quench theirs. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”

The source of such a Christian influence is the Holy Spirit. He is the living water - “By this he meant the Spirit.” He is the giver of life. “We were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Cor. 12:13).

The vital element in experiencing and exercising this influence is faith in Jesus. “Whoever believes in me . . . those who believed in him . . . ” It is the glorified Christ who pours out the Spirit, and to believe is to come to him and drink and in doing so to become a channel to others.