And now let me say a word or two as to the second. I wish to speak
about this process of drawing from the fountain. That metaphor, without
any further explanation, might very naturally suggest more idea of
human effort than in reality belongs to it. Men have said: 'Yes; no
doubt God is the fountain of salvation; no doubt Christ is the river of
salvation; no doubt His death is the opening of the fountain for sin
and for uncleanness; but how am I to bring myself into contact and
connection with it?' And there have been all sorts of answers. Every
kind of pump has been resorted to. Go up to the Agricultural Hall and
you will see no end of contrivances for bringing water to the surface.
There are not so many there as men have found out for themselves to
bring the water of salvation to their lips, and the effect has always
been the same. There has been something wrong with the valves; the pump
has not worked properly; there has been something wrong with the crank;
the pipe has not gone down to the water; and there has been nothing but
a great jingling of empty buckets, and aching and wearied elbows, and
what the woman said to Christ has been true all round, 'Sir, thou hast
nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.' Ay! thank God, it _is_
deep; and if we let our Lord be His own interpreter, we have only to
put together three sayings of His in order to come to the true meaning
of this metaphor. My text says, 'With joy ye shall draw water'; and
Christ, sitting at the well of Samaria--what a strange combination of
the weakness and the weariness of manhood and the strength and
self-consciousness of Divinity was there!--wearied with His journey,
said, 'If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to
thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him and He would
have given thee living water.' So, then, drawing is asking. That is
step number one.
Take another word of the Master's that I have already quoted for other
purposes, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.' So,
then, drawing, or asking, or coming are all equivalent. That is step
number two.
And, then, take another word. 'He that cometh unto Me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.' So, then,
drawing, asking, coming, all melt into the one simple word--believing.
Trust in Him, and thou hast come, thou hast asked, thou hast drawn,
thou dost possess.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account