10/23/2025
"Some Bible students drink at the fountain of
knowledge, others just garble."
Our Daily Walk
Jesus said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." (John 7:37). In the beautiful old hymn, There is a River, the chorus goes as follows:
"There is a river and it flows from deep within. There is a fountain, that frees the soul from sin. Come to this water; there is a vast supply. There is a river that never shall run dry".
When considering the study of scripture in preparing for a sermon or considering a puzzling portion of a scripture that seems contradictory or otherwise difficult to understand, there is the temptation to seek the opinion of noted scholars in commentaries or their own exegesis written on the pages of their books. Wouldn't it be easier to sit down with God and discuss the matter with Him? I remember when I was in college, taking advanced literature courses as electives, if I had difficulty with a poem by T.S. Eliot, for example, I'd spend hours in the library reading critiques, rather than labor for hours trying to discover the secret of his prose for myself. In the long run, however, I did formulate my own opinions, but they had already been influenced by those of others. Today, if I decided to take a course just for the fun of it, I'd rely on my own considerations. With regard to scripture reading, I have never been one to really look past the scriptures, especially in the past thirty-five or more years, as I've developed a deeper personal relationship with God, and a love of His Word that holds all I need for life and godliness. Being an intercessor, spending time in prayer, reading the word to apply it to my prayers, I spend time listening and asking God's opinions or meaning on passages I find puzzling. I feel that's the better way, and it turns out that God wants to sit, chat, and teach me while enjoying a cup of coffee. It's called relationship, and He's all for it! That's the reason we're here - to learn of Him and to grow like Christ.
At the Passover celebration that Jesus shared with His disciples, He used that time to detail what was going to happen next - how He would be betrayed by one of His followers, how Peter would deny Him, and how the others would scatter and run. He told them the particulars of His trial, torture, ridicule, crucifixion, burial, and His resurrection. He washed their feet thereby demonstrating to the disciples that in order to be great in the Kingdom of Heaven, you had to be willing to be a servant. He taught them humility and kindness. He even instructed them on what would happen after He left, how He would send the Helper or Holy Spirit to help them. He wanted them to know that He would never leave them nor forsake them. And He wanted to let them know that He would return for them one day and bring them into His Kingdom. It was a lot to swallow in one evening, but then, Jesus had been telling them a lot of this over time.
Jesus wanted them to be prepared for what would happen in the future, even past their time on earth, yet He wanted them to know that although they would share persecution and an end similar to His own, He would always be with them. Holy Spirit would be their Guide, reminding them of all He taught, of all the miracles He had done. He would indeed be their Comforter, as He is to us today. The promises Jesus made for His disciples then are true for us today. He warns of false prophets, those pretending to be Him, showing up saying they are the Christ and to follow them. But He warned us to beware and to be prepared for what is to come, what is already here, right now, staring us in the face. I wonder how many truly see and understand?! So many terrible things, calamities have happened, that it is hard to think that what is to happen will be more catastrophic than anything we have ever experienced or witnessed. But the scriptures are true. Persecution is already worldwide, and if we disobey God concerning Israel, then we will experience worse than Pharaoh when he would not let God's people go. Did Jesus mean to frighten us? No, because in John 16:33 Jesus says: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
After saying these words Jesus lifted His eyes to Heaven and spoke to God, His Father in Chapter 17 of John. He prayed for His disciples, but He also included all believers who would come to know Him through the Good News that they would share to a lost and dying world. And that is our journey in Christ. We are told to go into the world, all of it, and preach the gospel, making disciples of all men, performing miracles, healing, deliverance, using the gifts of the Spirit freely. To do great exploits for the glory of God the Father, preparing for His Second Coming. That was the mandate then, and it remains the same for today. So, drink deeply of the water of the Word of God, come and sit with Jesus the better part of your day, learning of Him, there is a vast supply of this soul-drenching flow. "Come to this water; there is a vast supply. There is a river that never shall run dry".
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