Unlimited: Overflow with Hope
Nov 20, 2023 793
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13b).
The Bible is full of images of the irrepressible and uncontainable abundance of the gift of God to his children. One of these images is that of pure and refreshing water.
Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well:
…whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14.)
He said to the Jews:
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them (John 7:38.)
Do you overflow with hope, refreshing all those around you as they travel through life?
This imagery finds its source in the rivers that flowed through Eden (Gen. 2:10), reflected in the river of life in heaven (Rev. 22:1–2.) In a Jewish context, we find the same imagery in the mighty river that flows from the new and glorified temple in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezek. 47:1–12.) Wherever the river flows “everything will live” (v.9) and “bear fruit” (v.12.)
A life that overflows with hope is not one in which you “grit your teeth” and piously talk about how you couldn’t get through without the hope you have in God, while all the time overflowing with grief and anguish. It is a life of genuine joy and peace, despite the difficulties of life.
Spiritual Application
Do you overflow with hope, refreshing all those around you as they travel through life? What can you do to drink more of the water of life yourself?
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