Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’
-John 7:38
I have this theory.
And it’s that, most of us as believers struggle to see the reality of this verse in our lives.
Do you believe that you have a river of living water flowing out of your heart? What does that mean? And why don’t our lives reflect the truth of that verse?
For myself, some days are an absolute struggle. Instead of a river of living water, i often feel as if i’m flailing around in a ocean storm. And other days, instead of a river of water, there’s barely enough water to keep me going.
But maybe the problem is that we’ve stopped believing. We’ve stopped believing that God has given us His Spirit. We’ve stopped believing that we are His ambassadors. We’ve stopped believing that His words are truth. We’ve stopped believing that we are called to pour out His life to those around us. We’ve stopped believing that our lives can be more – more than what they are now.
Maybe we’ve decided to just live life like everyone else. Maybe we think it’s simpler that way. Maybe we’ve let our hearts grow cold and callous. Maybe we’re too full of bitterness so the river of life has nowhere to flow. Maybe we are too busy thinking about ourselves, so instead of letting the river flow out, we’ve just let it dam up in our lives.
But open your eyes and look. Look at the world around us. War and rumours of war. Rape and murder. Children’s innocence being taken away. People working for their own good, whilst others starve around them. A world whose hearts are becoming comfortable with evil. So comfortable that it takes even worse crimes for us to be shocked.
Where do we stand? Has God called us to sit and judge from a distance? Or has he commissioned us for something else? Is it time for us to be alive? To awake from our numbness and slumber?
I’ll be the first to admit that my life often doesn’t feel very alive. And yet, deep in my soul, I hear life calling. I hear a life yearning to be alive. I hear His Spirit stirring, yearning to pour out that river. Life. Alive.
This year at the BCEC, we are going to be exploring what it means to have that life – a Life Alive. So join us as we discover, pray, seek, commit, encourage, adventure, create, bless, and live a life full of life.
God, let my heart pour out that river of living water.