Connections: "The Living Water Flows"          May 24, 2026

John 7:33-52

Fifty days after Easter Sunday, we acknowledge the coming of the Holy Spirit today, on Pentecost Sunday. While the story is told in Acts 2 after Jesus’s resurrection, picturing the gift of the Spirit as “tongues…of fire” (2:3), our lesson text reverses the clock a bit. John 7 records Jesus’s words to the disciples about his upcoming absence from them and about the continued gift of God’s presence through the Holy Spirit, pictured as “rivers of living water” (7:38).

Think of the natural bodies of water you have seen: ocean, lake, river, stream. The common characteristic of most natural water bodies is movement. In the ocean, tides ebb and flow in waves. In lakes, water laps the shore due to tributaries, wildlife, and recreation. Healthy rivers and streams flow constantly from one place to another, supplied by snowmelt, underground springs, waterfalls, and more. When you’re near these sources of water, you can understand what “living water” means. It moves visibly and audibly.

How is the Holy Spirit like living water? At first, the comparison may not make sense. We don’t see the Spirit. We don’t hear the Spirit. At least not in the ways we see and hear natural bodies of water. So why did Jesus use this metaphor?

I think he was indicating that the Holy Spirit is not a static presence that sits invisibly and observes. Instead, the Spirit is a dynamic gift from God that lives, moves, and breathes within us as we walk through this life without Jesus’s physical presence. Just as water nourishes our thirsty bodies, the Spirit nourishes our thirsty souls. It is a gift worth celebrating.

• What are some of your favorite places to be near water? 
• How do you feel when you visit these places? What is significant about being near a natural body of water?
• What does the Holy Spirit mean to you? Can you recall a time when you didn’t sense the Spirit? Are there still times when it’s hard to connect with the Spirit?
• How do you think the Holy Spirit is like living water?
• What can you do to grow more aware of the Spirit’s presence with you?

Kelley Land, a graduate of Mercer University (BA in English, 2000), has worked as an editor of Smyth & Helwys curriculum and books since 2001. In addition, she is a freelance editor for other publishers and authors. She also serves on the board of directors at Macon Little Theatre. Kelley enjoys spending time with her young adult daughters, Samantha and Natalie, her husband John, and the family’s two dachshund mix pups, Luke and Leia. She is often found playing board games with a group of rowdy friends. She loves author Louise Penny’s Three Pines mystery series and the TV show Doctor Who.