est." When there was a
flood in the river, there was a harvest in the land. Has there been a
harvest in your life? A harvest of the fruit of the spirit--love, joy,
peace, long-suffering; a harvest of souls? "No," do you say, "not much
of a harvest, I am afraid," or it may be your heart says "none at all."
Is it hard to tell why? Has there been a flood-tide in your heart, a
filling up from above until the blessed stream had to find an outlet
somewhere, and produce a harvest? A harvest outside means a rising of
the tide inside. A flooding of the heart always brings a harvest in the
life. A few years ago there were great floods in the southern states,
and the cotton and corn crops following were unprecedented. Paul
reminded his Roman friends that when the Holy Spirit has free swing in
the life "the love of God _floods_ our hearts."[2]

Please notice, too, the _source_ of the stream--"out of his belly." Will
you observe for a moment the rhetorical figure here? I used to suppose
it meant "out of his _heart_." The ancients, you remember, thought the
heart lay down in the abdominal region. But you will find that this book
is very exact in its use of words. The blood is the life. The heart
pumps the blood, but the stomach makes it. The seat of life is not in
the heart, but in the stomach. If you will take down a book of
physiology, and find the chart showing the circulation of the blood, you
will see a wonderful network of lines spreading out in every direction,
but all running, through lighter lines into heavier, and still blacker,
until every line converges in the great stomach artery. _And everywhere
the blood goes there is life._ Now turn to a book of physical geography
and get a map showing the water system of some great valley like the
Mississippi, and you will find a striking reproduction of the other
chart. And if you will shut your eyes and imagine the reality back of
that chart, you will see hundreds of cool, clear springs flowing
successively into runs, brooks, creeks, larger streams, river branches,
rivers, and finally into the great river--the reservoir of all. _And
everywhere the waters go there is life._ The only difference between
these two streams of life is in the direction. The blood flows from the
largest toward the smallest; the water flows from the smallest toward
the largest. Both bring life with its accompaniments of beauty and vigor
and fruitfulness. There is Jesus' picture of the Christian down in the