Are You Really Thirsty?

Tim Shaw
Pastor of Adult Education

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive… John 7:37-39a (ESV)

I enjoy yard work. Or perhaps more accurately, I enjoy mowing. There is something about pushing the mower back and forth and seeing the straight lines that are formed with each pass and the sweet aroma of freshly cut grass. However, when it is one of those hot, humid, North Carolina summer days, I lose some of that delight to exhaustion and thirst. That thirst can only be quenched by cold water and it often has to be quenched more than once for me to be able to finish the job.

You know you can compare that level of thirst with being filled with the Spirit. In fact, Spirit fullness begins with a thirst. Along with obeying we must desire to be filled and then allow the filling. Jesus said in John 7:37, “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.” Here are two prerequisites for the filling of the Holy Spirit – thirst and drink. Thirst suggests desire, and drinking suggests obedience and trust, in that if we drink, He will quench our thirst.

Included in this desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit must be our wanting God to judge and put away sin in our lives. We must desire to be separated unto the Lord from the world and its evil system. We must regard ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. This is true not only in our position in Christ, but also in our spiritual life as we yield to the Holy Spirit’s control.

We must also desire the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Do we want, no, do we thirst for, love, joy, peace and the other evidences of the Spirit’s life in us? Do we long to put Christ on the throne?

Thirst should cause us to drink, and in drinking we are trusting. In the words of our Savior, “Out of our being shall flow rivers of living water.” (v38) We not only trust Christ to save us from sin, but we also trust Him to fill us with the Spirit. This particular phase of believing, or trusting, in Christ should be a continuous attitude of trusting, of committing ourselves to the Lord in order to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.

So, next time your physical body thirsts and you burn to have it quenched, ask yourself, “Do I desire and burn to be filled with the Spirit as badly as I desire to have a drink of water?”

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Eph 5:18

Walking With God or Going Out Just Like Enoch!

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

Enoch is one of those men that you don’t read about much in Scripture, but what a testimony he left behind! He’s only mentioned three times (a total of 8 verses), but one of those times is in the Heroes of Faith chapter in Hebrews. Hebrews 11:5 reads:

By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not experience death, and he was not to be found because God took him away. For prior to his transformation he was approved, having pleased God.

This verse is referring to the account of Enoch’s life found in Genesis 5:21-24:

Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methusaleh. And after the birth of Methusaleh, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered sons and daughters. So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not there, because God took him.

What a way to leave this earth! One day he was not there, because God took him! It reminds me of Elijah and that old Rich Mullins’ song: “When I die I want to go out like Elijah/With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire.”

It’s mentioned twice in the Genesis passage that Enoch “walked with God.” The same word translated “walk” can also mean “well-pleasing”, so in essence Enoch’s relationship with God was one that pleased God and brought him honor.

That’s a challenge for us today, isn’t it? Can we live each day keeping in step with the Spirit and glorifying the Lord in everything that we do, say, feel, desire and love? I think it’s not easy, but possible, when we live a life filled with the love of Jesus and surrendered to the will of God.

Like Enoch, let us seek to please God and to walk with Him all the days of our lives!