It was the last day of a feast. It had continued over a whole week, and now the final celebration on the eighth day was being held. The whole of Jerusalem was stirred in the joyful remembrance of a former deliverance of the nation at a time of dire necessity and calamity.

And yet!-and yet there were sad hearts and unsatisfied spirits in that jubilant throng. There was a consciousness of a need that celebrations and ceremonies could not meet. Then, as now, longings filled many breasts, undefined and indefinable. A want, an aching void-for what? They could not have expressed it in words, but it was there nevertheless. You may have known it. It was thus with a lady of wealth and beauty as she declared to her companions, "It is all right when I am at the theater or at the dance, but when I leave to go to my home there is something I want; I know not what it is." She was expressing the heartache of thousands. The frivolities of the haunts of pleasure, the engagements of business, the pursuits of art and science may fill the mind for the hours of immediate occupation therewith. But!-But there is that "something" left wanting, a yearning too deep and obscure for utterance. What is it? The yearning seems to be universal.

Is this "something" obtainable? Can satisfaction of heart be known?

On that high day and holiday in the great city festival at Jerusalem a Stranger rose and cried aloud, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink" (John 7:37). The words echo down the centuries for our ears today. Nay! they sound afresh from Heaven's heights, in the Word of God that lives and abides forever.

How wide the invitation, "Any man!"

How deep the understanding of the heart's desires, "Thirst!"

How welcome the invitation to the thirsty ones, "Come -drink!"

A wonderful proposition this! He can satisfy, fully satisfy, the craving of the spirit of man. And yet there is more. He can not only fill but He will produce an abundant overflowing. Yearning after the sin-stricken, sorrow-stricken children of men, the Saviour said, "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." It was in view of the coming of the Holy Spirit that the Lord of glory made this promise of immeasurable fulness. He, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," is also the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit. He removes all that is contrary to God. He brings in that which is in accordance with God, so that in a glad coming day the desert shall blossom as a rose. The wilderness of man's sin shall be the flower-garden of God's delight. The Spirit shall be poured out on all flesh then.

But today, what of it? Christ is glorified. The Holy Spirit has come. He indwells the believer. He links up the Christian with Christ. "He that believeth" is in touch with the heart of love and hand of power of the Son of God Himself. There is no lack of power at His disposal, and He waits to take us up and use us for His service in the blessing of others.

Rivers of living water! Not a dribbling trickle, not a brook or rivulet merely, but RIVERS of living water. Do not say, "Such privilege is the portion of the evangelist, of the pastor and teacher, but it is not for an ordinary, insignificant believer like myself." Look at the words again-perhaps you have misread them-"He that believeth on Me." No, it is not he who believed on Me as a Saviour ten, or twenty, or thirty years ago. It is a present continuous faith in Him, the Son of God, exalted now to God's right hand. All things are put into His control, and we may draw upon His limitless resources. Thus it was that He said, when risen, to His disciples, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore." Not at our own charges have we to run. All that we need is to be supplied by Him. We are but channels, living channels, for the living water. Believing on Him, linked by present living faith to Himself, drawing from His all-sufficiency day by day, we shall become a way for His power to reach the thirsty who are all around us in a dry and barren world. Of course, we must remember that a channel has to be clear if the water is to flow unhindered through it. And we who are formed to be channels for the Master's use have to watch ourselves closely lest any thing of self or sin block the flow. The allowance of the "self-life" in any form, the permitting the lusts of the flesh to have sway, the lack of self-judgment, the omission of the cleansing of water by the Word, the want of diligence in prayer-all, or any of these, may choke the channel and .hinder the rivers. They will flow, but not through us. Others will be honored and favored, and we shall miss the golden opportunity which is granted to us of being vessels suited for the Master's use and employed by Him.

To keep close contact with Christ, to judge ourselves at once when we have been careless in our walk and ways, to follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit as He directs us to pray, to read the Word of God and to consort with His people, so will the fountains issue in abundance, so will there be "rivers of water" in the concourses of men. To this our gracious Lord calls us-yes, every one of us who believes upon Him!

Shall we not turn to Him with the earnest cry, "Lord, make it good in me today, at whatever cost?"

"Make me a channel of blessing today,
Make me a channel of blessing, I pray;
My life possessing, my service blessing,
Make me a channel of blessing today."

Inglis Fleming