Divine Invitations – From the Holy Spirit

Divine Invitations – From the Holy Spirit. 

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8).

Human history began with divine fellowship in the Garden of Eden. But Adam and Eve broke that intimate fellowship with God, and ever since, God has yearned to return to that vital relationship with us. The Lord will do whatever it takes, even to die, to restore that personal union and companionship with His people. The Bible begins with the preincarnate Christ walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day in Paradise. Unfortunately, that divine friendship was fractured, and throughout the rest of Scripture God is pleading with people to return, to come back to Him. Come, says the Father. Come, says the Son. Come, says the Holy Spirit. I so desire for you to move from there to here, He says. I initiated the communion between us, says the Lord, and now I want you to return to Me. A common thread through Scripture is God issuing invitations to come to Him. And our response? “Lo, here I am, I come… I delight to do your will, O my God.” (Ps. 40:7-8).

“Come!” say the Spirit and the Bride. Whoever hears, echo, “Come!” Is anyone thirsty? Come! All who will, come and drink, drink freely of the Water of Life! (Revelation 22:17, MSG).

“The Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,” proclaims the Nicene Creed, and all God’s people say Amen! Throughout Scripture, the Spirit is symbolized by fresh water, by the waters of life. Living water from running streams is a picture of the life-saving, soul-satisfying refreshment that can only be given by God through His Holy Spirit. In the Hebrew Bible, the connection between water and the Spirit is in Isaiah 44:3, “I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and my blessings on your offspring.” And In Isaiah 32:15, 20, “Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field… How blessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters.” When Jesus had that momentous discussion with the woman at the well, He promised her the water that will become in her “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14). Lest anyone be confused about that water of life, John clarified the matter once and for all after Jesus shouted out His messianic invitation, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water!” (John 7:37-38). After which John added, “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.” (John 7:39). So when the Holy Spirit said ‘Come’ in Revelation 22:17, He is inviting those who are thirsty to come to Him and drink freely from His fountain of life. Only those who are thirsty, those who are “painfully conscious of his need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported and strengthened” (AMP), can receive the Spirit’s water of life. Only the thirsty can have their thirst quenched by the Spirit. The Bride of Christ, the Church, joins in the invitation, appealing to all who are spiritually thirsty to come and drink of the Spirit. Whoever drinks of the Spirit will have an ongoing stream of life flowing out of his heart. And this water is free of charge. “Ho! Everyone who thirsts come to the waters; you who have no money, come!” (Isaiah 55:1). John’s final appeal in Scripture is the divine invitation of the Holy Spirit to come to Him for life-giving water. As the Father made clear in Isaiah 41:17, “The afflicted and needy shall rejoice exceedingly, for when they shall seek water, but there is none, and their tongues are parched with thirst, I the Lord God, will hear them; As the God of Israel, I will not forsake them.” The Spirit’s invitation to come and drink is simply a profound gesture of God’s mercy.