Day 132

Judges 14:1-15:20, John 7:14-44, Proverbs 11:29-12:7

We mentioned a big chunk of Samson’s story (the lion and the donkey’s jawbone) yesterday before we had actually got to them in the passage but what is important today is the way that the Gospel and the passage from Judges fit together.  Judges 14:19 (“Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power”) and John 7:38-39 (“Streams of living water will flow from within … by this he meant the Spirit”) fit so wonderfully as we see the power of the Spirit working across the ages.

Jesus talks of streams of living water and when we look at it in different forms we find that water is powerful. Whether it is a waterfall cascading after a week of rainfall, whether it is the crash of the waves against rocks or the massive volumes of water passing through estuaries, water has strength.

At this feast Jesus is going through a real rollercoaster of emotional experiences. First of all he wanted to go on the quiet and not get caught up with all the others that were going. There was also a real risk to his life and the time was not yet right for his death, so he went secretly. Yesterday he overheard a number of things said about him and today there is really positive stuff as people put their faith in him, and really negativity as they talk of killing him. Yet throughout all of this the Spirit stays strong within him and pours out of him like streams of living water.

The power of the Spirit is twofold. It can bring strength to us and it can flow out from us. If we allow the spirit to flow through our lives then we find that we can have the strength of Samson, but flowing through requires an outpouring as well, Jesus said that the streams would flow “from within”. When it pours out then it goes to others and the power and strength of the Spirit coming from us can bring change in them.

Do you want to be a vessel of the Lord today, allowing the Spirit to flow in and then flow out. Just be warned, it won’t just change you!