Title: Where is My Mount of Olives?
Contents
The background of the text is the Feast of Tabernacles among the feasts of Israel. The Feast of Tabernacles is a festival to reflect on the grace of God that our ancestors received in the past in the wilderness. At the end of this feast, Jesus calls out with a loud voice. "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water."
Jesus calls the thirsty. In fact, how many times in life are we thirsty? How often do you feel thirsty because what you need is not being met? What are the fundamental solutions to these problems? All of these are spiritual matters. No matter how much a human being enjoys and lives, if the spiritual part is not filled, he will always be in the midst of thirst.
Jesus cries out. "Whoever thirsts, come to me, drink, and rivers of living water will overflow from the belly, as promised in the Bible." What the hell does a ship mean? The ship here refers to the greed of man. When a person receives illegal money, it is expressed as "taking a bribe". If you hear insults from other people, you say "I was cursed". The stomach is not just a place to eat and store food, but a place to satisfy human greed.
Because of the things that we cannot be satisfied with even if we fill them up, we run frantically from early morning to dark night to fill them up and fill our stomachs with something, but the Lord invites us to live our lives that are still thirsty. "Whoever thirsts, come. From the center of his lust will flow rivers of living water."
Then, what does the living water that the Lord spoke of mean? Verse 39 gives the answer. "He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, which those who believe in him will receive."
Yes. The river of living water that can moisten our thirsty lives is the Holy Spirit. When God created man, he molded it out of clay and then breathed 'life' into his nostrils. Life is the Spirit of God. Only when the Spirit of God is with you can you become a real person.
Those who heard Jesus' sermon went home one by one, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. What does the Mount of Olives mean to Jesus? The Mount of Olives was the place where Jesus had personal communion with God. According to the holy custom, the place where he always prayed before God was the Mount of Olives. How tired are you? How long would you like to rest? But Jesus valued fellowship with God more important than physical rest.
People are governed by their environment. Because Jesus also had a body, he was governed by circumstances, and he placed the priority of your life circumstances, your place in life, on communion with God. It could be the cutie, it could be the morning prayer, it could be your personal prayer place, it could be this place. A place set aside for meeting God, a set time set aside - that is our Mount of Olives.
Where is your Mount of Olives?
Where is your special place to meet God amidst the complicated and busy world?