Dry seasons are inevitable in everybody’s life, but we have within us a fresh bubbling spring of living water! And we are invited to draw freely at any time and be refreshed.
“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ Let anyone who hears this say, ‘Come.’ Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life” (Revelation22:17 NLT).
OI!
I did not make a mistake when I wrote OI. We have heard a lot about AI (Artificial Intelligence) of late. We certainly know how beneficial it can be in research and in expanding our creativity. But even the creators of AI are warning that, if left unproperly checked and unregulated, AI poses a threat to our very existence that could be carried out within a decade. Clearly AI must be regulated and controlled. But the U. S. president rejects curtailing it because we are in an AI race with China. In driver education, I was taught to dim my lights when facing an oncoming vehicle even if the driver of the other vehicle refuses to dim their lights. It is dangerous and reckless to take the attitude, “If he won’t dim his lights, I won’t dim mine!” As Dr. Martin Luther King stated so eloquently, “Somebody’s got to have some sense in this world.” Otherwise, we may be headed for mutually annihilation!
But this message is not about AI. It is about OI, an Open Invitation. In Revelation 22:17, we find the final invitation that is given in Scripture. It was given several times earlier in Scripture, but this is one final open invitation in the final book and final chapter of that book to receive salvation and eternal life. Jesus and His bride, the Church, extend this open invitation to all to come and receive freely the gift of God which is eternal life. All who hear and receive are to extend the invitation to others to come. It is the invitation that was extended by Jesus to the woman at the well in John 4:10, 14, (NLT) to receive water that will become a fresh, bubbling spring within.
That spring is ever flowing, even in our dry seasons when we become weary and feel that our strength is depleted. It is the living water we were given when we first accepted the invitation of Jesus to come and drink. We can drink from our fountain at any time. Thank God for the OI of Jesus: “Let anyone who is thirsty drink freely from the water of life.”
AI may well be a threat to our lives, but OI, the open invitation from Jesus invites us to live and ultimately, we shall have eternal life.
Focus Quote: “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! …it’s all free!” (Isaiah 55:1 NLT).
