By Mitch Glover
For the Peninsula Clarion
Are you an espresso aficionado?
I see a lot of cars at most drive through espresso stands, especially in the morning. People are getting a start on the day with an espresso treat. Then the cars line up again in the evening, maybe to get a reward for finishing the work day.
The number of espresso stands keeps growing along with the flavors, grounds and types. I thought at first it was a passing fad but over the years espresso has flourished and the stands and coffee shops have multiplied.
Baristas will probably always have a job. If there isn’t an espresso stand around, one could start and gain clientele almost immediately.
Sometimes though, no other drink will satisfy like clear, cold water. Just plain old water — not flavored, sparkling or distilled. It’s no wonder that Jesus used water as a type of the Spirit of God.
He once announced to a religious crowd, “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.” He wanted to be heard so he loudly called out to them. He wasn’t running an espresso stand or offering water bottles from a cooler. He was speaking of the Spirit. Believing as the Scripture says will result in “rivers of living water” flowing within the believer (see John 7:37-39). Jesus emphasized that the believer should receive the Spirit.
Another time, in John chapter 4, Jesus met a woman at Jacob’s well in Samaria. He spoke of “living water” as they stood by the well. Surprised that he spoke to her, she asked about the “living water” he mentioned. He said it will be “a well of living water springing up into everlasting life.” Jesus pointed out the well water satisfies thirst for a while, but “whosoever drinks of the water I shall give shall never thirst.”
Thinking of natural water, the woman asked for the water he offered so that she wouldn’t thirst or have to draw from the well again. She needed to understand the spiritual aspect of the living water, and their discussion turned to spiritual things. The woman left her water pot and went to the city exclaiming, “Come see a man…is not this the Christ?”
Many who heard him believed and asked him to stay a few days. The outcome was they told the woman, “Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”
Jesus included all in his invitation to come and drink of the Spirit. “Any” who thirst and “whosoever” are included in his promise of the Spirit.
When the disciples of Jesus first received the Spirit of God, Peter quoted an 800-year-old prophecy of Joel concerning God’s promise, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.” Peter declared to the gathering crowd, “This is that”!
Paul made it known it was for all as well. He wrote that regardless of social standing or religious heritage, we “have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). This wonderful experience is available to everyone.
Mitch Glover pastors the Sterling Pentecostal Church. Sunday Bible class at 10 a.m. and worship at 11 a.m. are live-streamed on Facebook as well as the Thursday Bible study at 7 p.m. All are welcome to visit the services and sterlingpentecostalchurch.com.
