“I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring” (Isaiah 44.3).

The Holy Spirit was poured out during the advent of the church in Acts 2. The church was mostly Jewish at its inception, but certainly not exclusively so. Many Gentiles were saved as well and present in Acts 2. The promise here in Isaiah is exclusively for Israel, a promise not yet fulfilled. Still, the Holy Spirit is the metaphoric water and streams becoming a prelude of God’s blessing for the present too. Since the Holy Spirit is given to me, I have great privileges and great responsibilities. I must not grieve or quench His work in my life. This is a very sobering thought.

The thirsty land is a great picture of my own conscience tormented by the world around me. I desire God’s blessing. Feelings tell me that I am rejected and near to being cursed, but feelings are deceptive. Self-condemnation is a great spiritual hindrance. It drains me of hope brought by the promise of my righteous standing before the Father due to the person and work of Christ. “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, their tongues fail for thirst. I the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water” (Isaiah 41.17-18). 

I am thirsty, but perhaps my boys aren’t even aware of how parched they truly are. The gift of the Holy Spirit is what I desire for them. I desire it more than a promising, secure future in this present darkness. If the grace and mercy of God is present within them, I pray that it “will sprout among the grass like poplars by flowing streams” (Isaiah 44.4).

May they devote themselves to God. I believe they have received the grace of God leading to salvation. May they feel the weight and obligation of the gift of God’s son dying for them. May redeeming love penetrate their souls so that they want to give to the LORD for the privileges bestowed upon them. May they say, “I am the LORD’s.” May they even desire to write it on their hearts and not merely their hands (Isaiah 44.5).