Journey through John 7:37-39

Good Morning Church Family – Journey Through John

Read John 7:37-39

Devo Thought: I remember a couple of years ago when we told our kids that we were going on a Disney vacation with a family that are our dear friends. In this particular case, we told them several months we were going to go. What was cool about that was the fact that we began to enjoy some of the benefits of the upcoming trip. We began planning. We watched videos about some of the rides. Our excitement grew day-by-day. We were already enjoying the upcoming vacation even though we were not yet there. We see this concept of already-not yet show up all over the place in the Bible. As followers of Jesus, we can enjoy some of the benefits of his Kingdom even though it has not yet been fully realized. We see this concept in this passage today. At the Feast of Tabernacle, there was likely a water-pouring ceremony that could have symbolized a number of things from the Old Testament prophecies. For example, in Ezekiel, there is a prophecy about a great river flowing out from the reconstructed temple of God. Jesus looks at the crowd and says whoever believes in him will have rivers of living water flowing out from their hearts. John tells us that this was about the Spirit but that the Spirit had “as yet…had not been given.” This is where the concept of Christian hope comes in. There are these places in Scripture where we see that we have access to the coming Kingdom and enjoys those benefits; however, there is coming a day when those benefits will be fully realized. So, until then, we hope; we look forward to that day with anticipation. So, if you find in yourself this longing for the not yet, I want to remind you of the already and to encourage you to look forward to the not yet. It is coming. Keep on hoping.

Let us ask God to help us continue to persevere in hope.