Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.
John 7:34
When we think of the ministry of Jesus the words of verse 34 don’t comport with our normal expectation. We don’t think of him telling men that they cannot come to him. However, in the above case he is speaking to the Pharisees who wanted to lay hands on him and kill him. As a matter of fact they just (verse 30) tried to take him by force but could not. All John tells us is that his time hadn’t come yet.
The mystery of the statement in verse 34 is understood after reading verse 37. There Jesus says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” The problem in verse 34 was that the Pharisees were not thirsty. They were satisfied. One could say, they were SELF satisfied.
How often do I keep from drinking at Christ’s fountain because I am self-satisfied? Oh, my vanity, my empty-hearted and powerless religion. Satisfied, I might seek him but I will never find him. I remember the thirsty soul of a seventeen year old boy who cried after Jesus for just a drop of living water. May my seeking ever be just as desperate and parched as it was on that day.
Music: Tenor Philip Webb and the Grace Community Choir and Orchestra.
Prayer Requests: This request comes through the North American Mission Board prayer requests.
Shaun Stotyn is a collegiate missionary serving as the director of The Vine Campus Ministry in Vermont. “We need more laborers to reach college students at the University of Vermont and St. Michael’s College. There has been some recent activity on campus from a cult trying to recruit students. Pray for student safety and wisdom for the administration. Pray for a revival to break out on the college campuses of Vermont.”
Catechism: The Principles of the Christian Religion.
- Question 28: What was made bound to do by his covenant?
- Answer: To continue as holy as God at the first made him, to keep all God’s commandments, and never to break any of them.
- Question 29: What did God promise unto man, if he did keep the commandments?
- Answer: The continuance of his favor and everlasting life.
- Question 30: What did God threaten unto man, if he did sin and break his commandments?
- Answer: His dreadful curse and everlasting death.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.” All my best.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
John 7:37-38
The Bible Bistro 