Monday, July 24, 2017
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I first noticed it one day when I was mowing the lawn-a little dent in the ground. Over a few weeks, that little dent became a growing sinkhole. The ground was literally collapsing. I asked a neighbor, who was an amateur "sinkholeologist" what caused this phenomenon. He told me it was the drought of rainfall that we'd been having. He said an underground spring had probably dried up. And that dried up the ground, and the roots above it-and my yard went boom.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Underground Spring".
Now, when the ground collapses, it can be because the spring underneath has dried up. And you know what? That might be happening to you.
Our word for today from the Word of God, John 7:37 "Jesus said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive." And they did on the Day of Pentecost. You know that did come true. As have all God's children since then when they opened their hearts to Christ.
Now, Jesus said He was putting this bubbling source of life inside every believer. And as long as the Spirit-stream is running strong, you'll be healthy all the way through. But there are a lot of spiritual sinkholes developing in believers' lives these days. We all know somebody who collapsed, and it could be any of us if we neglect the underground spring.
Collapses don't really happen suddenly, in my yard, in my life or in your life. There's a gradual slowing of the "spiritual spring" in your heart, a drying up. Then the drying of the ground-and then one day, suddenly-but not suddenly-the collapse.
The point? We've got to keep fresh water flowing into our Spirit-stream! There is no shortcut to spiritual strength. It's the product of a consistent, day-after-day time spent with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's that time when you come to your Lord with an open Bible, with open hands to receive what He is ready to give you and to release the sin of the last 24 hours, and an open heart to let Him plant there what He wants to plant, an open mouth to pour out your praise and your heart to Him, and an open mind to let Him help you think His thoughts about your day and your relationships.
But we get busy or we get lazy. We try to get by with a sprinkling from the outside-whatever we can soak up from Christian radio, Christian TV, church, youth group, or Bible study group. But it's not enough just to nurture the spring inside. You are what you are because of personal, one-on-one, intimate time with your Lord, or because of the absence of it. It's the accumulated inner growth of days spent with Jesus that become weeks with Jesus, then Jesus-months, and ultimately, Jesus-years.
There's no way to rush that process or to get a spiritual fix to make up for neglecting it. It's possible that you're drying up inside without even knowing it. There have been just too many days without feeding that Spirit-spring inside you. Well, you can't have any of those days back, but you can start building it up today. You need to be feeding that spring that supports your soul. If you don't, I'd say you're destined for a collapse.
After all, it isn't the spiritual activity that men see that holds you up. It's those daily, intimate times with Jesus that only you can see and He can see. But then, it's what's underground that counts.