Thirsty for the Living Waters?

Living Water
By the Editor (Carrie Judd Montgomery)
Triumphs of Faith 7:3 (March 1887)

“I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring; and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses.”

If you are thirsting for God, yea, for the living God, then this promise is for you. You need not be discouraged because of your thirst, but rather you may be encouraged, because the blessing is only held out to “him that is thirsty.” The invitation reads, “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,” and again in the same chapter we find the definite promise, “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”

Thus, you see, dear thirsting soul, that you need not longer thirst, for there is the sound of abundance of water, of which you may freely partake.

The Lord Jesus had pronounced those blessed who thirst after righteousness, and He has allowed to come to you the utter dissatisfaction with all human springs, in order that you may seek after living water to satisfy your thirsty soul. You have indeed proved that those who drink from earthly wells shall thirst again, and now you are ready to hear the voice of Jesus as He calls, “If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink.” “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Shall not your response be, “Lord, give me this water, that I thirst not?” Then shall you not only be filled yourself, but streams of living water shall flow forth from your heart, to refresh and bless other thirsty lives. And that we might not be left in any doubt as to what was meant by this water of life, it is recorded, “This spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive.” The invitation is given in a very broad sense, so you cannot be left out. “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” You need not, must not bring money or price for the gift of God cannot be bought, and the one called is “he that hath no money.” So you cannot be too needy to come. The more needy you are, the more right you have to this invitation.

The needy ones are especially mentioned in Isa. 41: 17, 18, “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongues faileth for thirst, I the Lord, will hear them, I the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.” Even when “their tongues fail for thirst,” when they can no longer make a cry or a moan, yet the Lord hears them. And why does He notice so quickly our failing lips and parched spirits? Ah, have you forgotten that scene on Calvary, when the crucified One said with failing tongue, “I thirst”? And in the prophetic record we read the moan of agony, “I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave Me also gall for My meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.”

The blessed Saviour thirsted that we might not thirst, and therefore He waits to pour floods of living water - the fullness of His lifegiving spirit, upon all who are fainting and longing for Him. The rock has already been smitten, and we have only now to “speak unto the rock” to bring forth the waters of life. - (Num. 20:8).

God grant, dear reader, that you may constantly drink that “spiritual drink,” even as it is recorded of God’s ancient people, “they drank of that spiritual Rock that went with them (margin) and that Rock was Christ.”

“They thirsted not when He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow out of the Rock for them; He clave the Rock also, and the water gushed out.”

see also her "Floods of Living Water Freely Available" article.