Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
It's among the more fantastic things that Jesus said about what it means to believe in Him. The statement was made under the heat of His passion just before His crucifixion, as if it were His farewell message to the people at a Feast of Tabernacles:
"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'" (John 7:37, 38).
The evidence that we truly believe in Him will be seen in the quality of the spiritual food, or refreshing "water of life," that we share with others. We can't help it--that "water" is continually flowing like an artesian well to refresh the people the Lord brings us in contact with. You and I don't need to worry about it, or be anxiously concerned (well, we are of course concerned lest we may muddy the "waters" somehow), but we don't make the water flow from our hearts. That's just the nature of the "water of life," it flows continually.
It's what Paul said is "the truth of the gospel" (Gal. 2:5), which is "the power of God to salvation" (Rom. 1:16). New Covenant truth is explosive "gospel." "Always be ready to give a defense [an answer] to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you ..." (1 Peter 3:15).
A prayer that is according to the will of God (1 John 5:14) and therefore sure to be answered in our behalf is a prayer for understanding of the pure truth of the New Covenant in contrast to the Old; the Old leans toward bondage (Gal. 4:24). For sure, that is not "water of life"! Only the New Covenant has life in it.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 9, 2007.
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