Many readers and others who follow The Transforming Word Ministries know that for the year 2020 Kathy and I have been using CH Spurgeon’s devotional Morning and Evening Devotions. The spiritual wisdom Spurgeon was given by our Heavenly Father is the reason why his works have so long endured and been part of the encouragement and education of millions of believers.
Today’s reading focused on John 7:37 which says: “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” As part of his commentary Spurgeon said:
The sinner must come to Jesus, not to works, ordinances, or doctrines, but to a personal Redeemer, who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree. The bleeding, dying, rising Savior, is the only star of hope to a sinner. Oh, for grace to come now and drink, ere the sun sets upon the year’s last day!
No waiting or preparation is so much as hinted at. Drinking represents a reception for which no fitness is required. A fool, a thief, a harlot can drink; and so sinfulness of character is no bar to the invitation to believe in Jesus. We want no golden cup, no bejeweled chalice, in which to convey the water to the thirsty; the mouth of poverty is welcome to stoop down and quaff the flowing flood. Blistered, leprous, filthy lips may touch the stream of divine love; they cannot pollute it, but shall themselves be purified. Jesus is the fount of hope. Dear, reader, hear the dear Redeemer’s loving voice as He cries to each one of us, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.
Jesus is the fount of hope!
I was struck once again by the simplicity of the free gift of salvation offered to all who will simply come to Jesus in faith. Jesus bids all come to Him and drink deeply of the water He gives, the only water that as Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:7-14, satisfies the deepest need of the human soul. The water Jesus gives will forever slake the thirst of all who drink it.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away to the city to buy food. 9 So the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, though You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 She said to Him, “Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
The water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.
Friend, have you trusted in Jesus for the salvation of your soul? This is the picture we are presented in these passages. The water Jesus gives that satisfies every thirsty soul is the result of faith in Jesus. When any man or woman places their faith in Jesus, they become recipients of the mercy and grace of the Father, their sins are washed away, and they have become a son or daughter of God. John 1:12-13 proclaims this marvelous truth.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.
Today is the best day to give your life to God. You do so by agreeing with Him that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness. You will receive forgiveness by trusting in Jesus, believing in Him as the Father’s only way for receiving eternal life. This is stated clearly in the most famous Bible verse of all time – John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”
If you take this life-changing step today and receive Jesus by faith in His name, welcome to the family of God! I encourage you to find a Bible-teaching, Bible-believing church or home fellowship to continue to grow in your understanding of who God is and His marvelous promises to all those who love Him.
Abundant blessings upon all of you in the mighty, powerful, magnificent name of Jesus our Lord and Savior, amen!
Pastor Mike
