Streams of Living Water from Deep Within

“On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, he should come to me and drink! The one who believes in me, as the scripture has said, shall have streams of living water flow from deep within him.’ He said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were going to receive…”

John 7:37-39

One thing that stands out to me about this verse is the phrase “from deep within”. This verse has also been rendered “out of your bellies shall flow rivers of living water”. The word ‘belly’ here is the Greek ‘koilia’ which is from ‘koilos’, meaning ‘hollow’. The definition given by the Strong’s concordance reads,

“a cavity; specifically, i.e. the abdomen; by implication the matrix (womb); figuratively the heart; – belly, womb”

I do realize this word may have been used figuratively, at times, the way we might say “heart” today, but I still find it fascinating that neither the word “heart” nor “mind” were used here, but “belly” or “womb”. So, my personal takeaway: “the humble ordinariness of being shall be the seat of God’s redemptive power.”  Your koilia.