Blow The Damn

“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” (Joh 7:38-39 AV)

 

I think there is a lot of damning up going on!  Jesus states if we have accepted Christ as our Savior, then Holy Spirit will reside within but work outwardly towards others.  Specifically speaking, the water that flows is living water suggesting the outward working of the Holy Spirit is to share life.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit is definitely an inward one.  The Holy Spirit convicts.  The Holy Spirit teaches.  The Holy Spirit encourages.  The Holy Spirit reminds.  The Holy Spirit comforts.  The Holy Spirit reproves.  The Holy Spirit intercedes.  And the Holy Spirit gives gifts as He will.  These ministries of the Holy Spirit are beneficial to the one who has His indwelling.  But the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not meant to be hoarded.  The Savior says that if we are saved, then the rivers of life by the Holy Spirit flow from our inner being.  If we are saved the work of the Holy Spirit also includes a deep and transformative desire to see others come to the Savior.  If our concern for our lost friends, neighbors, and fellow human beings simply does not exist nor is overflowing, then we have built a damn!  The river is stopped.  The river doesn’t flow.

Water wars of the old west are a thing of legend.  It doesn’t take many episodes of Cheyanne, Gunsmoke, or Ponderosa before the main theme running through the story involves a water dispute.  In the old west, water was and still is essential, yet hard to come by.  As cattlemen grew their pastures and herds, they attempted to control all water that ran through their estate and keep competitors from receiving any.  In other cases, the rancher would divert a river or stream onto his land and shut out all other ranchers downstream.  In one of the most famous old west disputes, the Lincoln County Wars started as a feud between rival mercantilists.  Both attempted to put the other out of business.  Selling dray goods to those who were coming to New Mexico to settle and ranch, each wanted to be the sole supplier of goods to the territory.  This war spilled over into water wars.  As each side gathered support from ranchers and others, there was a concerted effort to eradicate all competition.  Water is essential.  For the life of rancher and cattle.  If water was unfairly diverted, those suffering loss would take it rather seriously.  It was not out of the ordinary for neighbors to kill their acquaintances and feel justified in doing so.  The federal government got involved and passed laws that would treat most running water as a resource of the government with no private ownership or rights to it.

Like the rivers and streams of the flat lands, it belongs to everyone.  If we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it is His natural desire to use us to share the life of Christ with others.  If the news of the glorious gospel of Christ is not leaving our lips, this is deliberate.  There is no excuse.  The Holy Spirit wants to use us.  He wants the life-giving message of grace to spew from our mouths.  These rivers of living water are not to be diverted for our own use.  They are not to go forth as a trickle.  A river is generally consistent and always flowing.  It may rise and fall because of the weather, but by and large, it flows continually.  If it is not, we have damned it up.  In the old west, they would place dynamite at the foot of the impediment.  It would blow the damn to the sky!  That is what we need.  We need holy dynamite that will break apart our damn of silence.  It needs to be drastic.  It needs to be permanent.  Enough hoarding the ministry of the Holy Spirit to ourselves.  The river must flow!