Ecclesiastes 1:7 – “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.”
Solomon, referring to himself as the preacher, is expounding upon various ways in which mankind’s labors are empty and vain in the scope of eternity. Solomon poses several examples as to the frivolous nature of the tasks which men undertake and waxes philosophical on their lasting implications throughout this first chapter of Ecclesiastes. What can be accomplished in a man’s life that will halt the sun in the sky or add even a single second to his life’s length? Who can with certainty foretell the wind’s direction tomorrow? Even if the wind had traced the same direction for a millennia, it could alter course and change its circuit at any moment. Yet one example stood out as I read this passage, “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full…”
How many people, saved and lost, have souls like unto the seas? They thirst, yet nothing they find can quench the desire to be filled. They hunger and nothing can satiate their appetite. They carve out rivers and canals to funnel their heart with satisfaction, but there is no end to the need for more. There is never a moment where flood their souls with enough to reach the brim. Each time the thought of achieving their goal begins to manifest the waters begin to evaporate or the changing tides reveal their need for more. They are always pouring and are never able to be filled. The lost are unaware of their spiritual need and are ignorant of the fact that their desire is one that came from sin’s curse and can only be satisfied by a savior. Those saints that suffer the same parched spiritual condition have burst or defective cisterns that can hold no water.
Praise be to the Lord that John 4:14 was recorded in His Word. Those that taste of the water that Christ offers have no need of rivers for He is the well that springs up within their soul. Because Christ is inexhaustible, because He bursts forth with endless an endless supply for my soul, my thirst is abated. However, when Christ spoke those words to the woman at the well He was not speaking of a one-time event. Certainty the thirst for sin was quenched when we by faith drank from this well, but the well is endless. It is springing up within us! Why would Christ make so much available if all we needed was a sip? The answer is simple, I needed a drink from Christ for salvation and I also need a drink each day to keep my soul satisfied regardless of what the world may throw at me.
They that seek to fill their soul with rivers are looking for outward solutions to their spiritual thirst. Those that rely on the well of Christ look inwardly to their spirit and rely upon His Spirit for the continuation of their satisfaction. Someone looking for rivers to fill their soul is convinced that Christ’s springing well is not enough to fulfill their thirst. Those convinced of such, will never be filled.
Christ said that the well that he would place in the believer would be springing up. Constantly fresh, never affected by drought, always satisfying. In truth no one’s soul is merely filled by Christ’s well, its overflowing. No wonder we hear such phrases as “drinking from my saucer” and “pressed down, shaken, bubbling over.” Of course we will never thirst again drinking from His well! We don’t even have to draw the water out of the well, it springs up and out of the well then overflows all that we are.
Yet, some mistakenly call carnality a thirst. All the rivers in the world can not satisfy the flesh or its curse of sin. The world will pour something in, knowing that it will not fill. Then once you realize that the water is evaporating the world will condense the same water into a new river and call it something different. Over and over, so many never get wise to the scheme. Some believe it so much that they walk away from the well that Christ gave to them. Taste and see that the Lord is good, and then keep tasting and see how He’ll spring forth in every part of your life.
Your fellowservant in Christ,
Bro. Jordan Foster
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