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Living Water Flowing From Us
October 22, 2011

On the last Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus said that if anyone who believed him would have living water flowing from his belly.

John 7:37-38
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Now that the Feast of Tabernacles is over, we must live our lives in such a manner that allows the Holy Spirit to flow from us so that out of our belly flow rivers of living water. How we go about doing this may be slightly different for each of us as we are led by the Holy Spirit in obedience to God. The Holy Spirit does not lead us in disobedience to God; the spirit that leads us in disobedience to God is a different spirit altogether and is of Satan. Beyond obedience to God, is the result that obedience to God is intended to bring. We know from the Holy Days that are just concluded that the result that comes from obedience to God is our participation in the Kingdom of God as it is established here on earth. So what is it we can do beyond obedience to God? Jesus alluded to the path we can take as we explore our options.

Mark 12:28-34
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

The scribe with whom Jesus was having this conversation understood that loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength while also loving our neighbors as ourselves went beyond obedience to God. At the time of this conversation, Obedience to God included burnt offerings and sacrifices. Burnt offerings and sacrifices provided a form of religion, but do not extend to the substance of religion. Jesus perceived that this scribe understood this point. Sometimes I wonder how many get trapped by forms of religion without ever understanding the substance of religion. The forms of religion that abound today include magnificent buildings, flowing words, emotion, and opportunities to be seen being religious. While all of these can be wonderful when living a life in obedience to God, when we fail to understand what obedience to God is intended to bring about, we develop a form of religion without the substance of religion. James understood the substance of religion. Even though his letter is insertedtowards the back of the New Testament, it is noted that the letter of James is generally regarded as the first letter to be written in the Christian era. James understood the need for obedience to God and to move beyond obedience to God. He knew that the Holy Spirit would lead us not only to obedience to God but beyond obedience to God, living a life that achieved desired results.

James 1:19-27
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James knew we had to be doers of the word, to continue in the perfect law of liberty. James knew we had to be obedient to God. James also knew we had to grow beyond obedience to God. He knew that Christians needed to remain obedient to God and use this obedience to effect results in their life and the lives of those they touched. This is why James wrote that pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from this world. Moving beyond obedience to God is not creating a liberal utopia where capable individuals are taken care of by others. During the time of this writing, it was the fatherless, minor children and the widows, those without spouses and children, who were generally unable to care for themselves. James is not suggesting a Christian movement equal to modern liberalism. James also knew that pure and undefiled religion means keeping ourselves unspotted from this world. The way we do this is through obedience to God. Those who choose to live in disobedience to God live a life that is spotted by this world. As we return to our lives after the Feast of Tabernacles, it is when we focus to be obedient to God and understand that obedience is intended to result in our doing good for those who are in need who cannot help themselves, that opportunities are created so that the rivers of living water can flow from our belly.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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