And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; (ESV)

Waterfalls are EPIC! I love the sound of them, the feel of them, the motion of them. Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls on the way to Valdez are two of my favorites. Each are spectacular in their own ways. Each will slightly change depending on the weather, but still, they continue to fall. That astounds me. How does the waterfall not run out of water? How does the pool at the bottom not eventually empty? The water keeps coming and going, and yet the waterfall keeps flowing.  

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This is the picture I get when I read, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…” (Acts 2:17). This word pour depicts a gushing, an abundance of volume, something that never runs out. Like the water in a fall, it is active and moving, refreshing and awe-inspiring.  

Under the Old Covenant, certain people were filled with the Spirit at certain times for specific purposes. Kind of like a water faucet – turned on and pouring out when called on by God, turned off when no longer needed.  

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Now, under the New Covenant, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is for all who call upon the name of the LORD – gushing out on believers in a never-ending supply – like a waterfall. Jesus said in John 7:37-39, “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this, he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

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Jesus talks about living water, like a river (which, oh by the way, often flow from waterfalls). Waterfalls are much different than faucets. Faucets can be turned off and on. Faucets have limits. Faucets can be controlled. Waterfalls are powerful, constantly moving, never running out.  

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Sadly, I think many Christians believe the Holy Spirit to be more like a faucet than a waterfall. We hear things like, “I need to be poured into so I can pour out.” Almost like we can exhaust the supply of the Spirit and his power. God’s Word tells us that God’s goodness is poured out in abundance: “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). See also how Jesus told his followers, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:16-18, emphasis added).

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You see, as believers, we have a never-ending supply of the Holy Spirit living in us. His Spirit is like a raging river flowing from a powerful waterfall that never dries up and never runs out – we need only reach out and tap into that power.  

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Has there been a time when you felt like you ran out of the Holy Spirit? Have you viewed the Spirit as a faucet you can turn off and on or like a powerful waterfall? How does knowing that the power of his Spirit is never ending change how you view your journey with him?  

Holy Spirit, we know there’s more, and we want it. When we thirst, help us to come to the Living Water and be drenched in the waterfall of your power. Fill us, Holy Spirit ~ AMEN!