The Spirit As Streams Of Living Water Series

A. The story is told about a man who got himself lost in the desert and began to search for water to quench his thirst.

1. After countless hours searching, he came upon a well with a big opening at the top.

a. He peered down into the well, but couldn't see a thing down there.

b. He looked around and found a small pebble and tossed it in and then listened closely for any sign of a splash or the pebble hitting the bottom, but he heard absolutely nothing.

c. He looked around again and found a bigger rock and tossed it in the well and listened closely, but again, he heard nothing.

2. He then decided to go a bit more extreme and looked around for the biggest rock he could find that he could actually lift.

a. He managed to half drag it, half roll it towards the well and with all his might he got it up onto the opening of the well and let it drop into the well, yet again he heard nothing.

3. Frustrated and disappointed, he turned to look for a new source of water, but then suddenly he was surprised to see a bleating goat flying quickly towards him and the well, screaming at the top of its lungs.

a. The man jumped out of the way as the goat went by him and disappeared down in the well.

4. Bewildered, the man walked away from the well wondering about the bleating goat.

5. A few minutes later, he happened upon a man and asked him if he had any water or knew where he could find some.

a. The man shared his water with the thirsty man and then asked, “Did you happen to see a goat around here? I can't seem to find my goat.”

b. The thirsty man said, “Actually yes! When I was near the well over there, a goat came flying towards me and went right down the well. Could that have been your goat?”

6. The man looking for his goat said, “No... there’s no way that’s my goat. My goat was tied to an enormous rock.”

B. The important question for us today is: where and how do we find the water we need to quench our spiritual thirst?

1. All of us have experienced being very thirsty on a dry hot day, and we know how good and refreshing it feels when you finally get to drink the cold, wet drink you have been desiring.

2. Many people find themselves empty or hungry or thirsty, but they don’t really know that the source of their emptiness, hunger and thirst is spiritual.

C. As you know, water is a precious commodity and is vital to life and existence.

1. Fresh water is a scarce resource - 97% of the earth’s water is salty or otherwise undrinkable and another 2% is locked in the polar ice caps and glaciers.

2. That leaves only 1% of the earth’s water for all of humanity’s needs — all its agricultural, residential, manufacturing, community, and personal needs.

3. So, water is scarce, but immensely valuable.

a. The human body is 75% water.

b. You can live a month without food, but you won’t last more than a week without water.

D. And so, the scarcity and significance of water is likely why the Bible often uses water to illustrate spiritual things.

1. Psalm 42:1-2: As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. I thirst for God, the living God.

2. Psalm 63:1: God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you

in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.

3. Isaiah 12:3: You will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation…

4. Isaiah 44:3-4: For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring. They will sprout among the grass like poplars by flowing streams.

5. Isaiah 58:11: The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry.

6. Don’t all those promises of God sound wonderful…springs of salvation, sprouting like poplars, satisfaction and strength, and a spring that never runs dry?

a. Sadly, in spite of these promises of God to provide the spiritual living water that His people need, they often abandoned God’s springs and looked elsewhere.

7. God spoke these words through Jeremiah the prophet: For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves—cracked cisterns that cannot hold water. (Jeremiah 2:13)