How often on any given day do we turn on a faucet? We do this
instinctively most of the time. We might need water for tea or to measure out
for cooking. We use it to wash our hands, do the dishes, scrub the floor, make
lemonade, give the dog a bath, and water the lawn, all without giving much if
any thought to the fact that it is the common denominator in all these activities.
Water is, in fact, one of those elements that we all take so much for
granted. And it's only when we are forced to live without it that it becomes a
precious commodity, as is evidenced in more arid regions of the world or in
supermarkets the day before a storm. The truth is, however, that not a single
living thing could survive without water, and its eternal quality is
particularly evident when viewed from the seashore or the bank of a river where
enormous masses of it are continuously replenished through a cooperative effort
between earth and sky. (Ezekiel 47:9) This quality, of an element whose source
never runs dry and that keeps renewing itself and supporting the lives of all
creatures, is depicted many times in both the Old and New Testaments in the
Bible, where water symbolizes, among many other truths, God's unfailing
presence in the universe and in our souls.
It's no accident that the first mention of water is found in the very
first book of the Bible. "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness
was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the
waters." (Genesis 1:2) Water was indeed one of the very first elements
that God created, as all that came after it would need it to live and thrive.
And without it, there would have been no more to say about either the creation
of the world or of our place in it. Even then, the water that poured forth from
God's creative touch contained all the physical and spiritual energy for
everything that would come after.
As we move through the world's early spiritual history as is revealed
to us in Scripture, we begin to see all the new meanings that come to be
associated with water, the substance that cleanses and sustains us and that
calms and refreshes our spirits. (Psalm 23:2) The Gospel writers go on to share
Jesus' own words as he taught during the Festival of Tabernacles: "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."
(John 7:37-39) Now, the most basic substance we take so much for granted
becomes the very medium by which Jesus' powerful promises are delivered to the
world through us and to all those we come into contact with. For who is not
affected by a torrent of God’s truth that is, like water over a dam or a wave
crashing against the shore, unstoppable and impossible to ignore?
As we go about the business of living, the Lord charges us to go out
among others in fellowship and in witness, where we ourselves become the very
vessels that contain the waters of God's redemptive power. Through our actions,
we spread his good news which is "like cold water to a weary soul."
(Proverbs 25:25) We allow our own righteousness in God to go before us
"like a never-failing stream. (Amos 5:24)
When all is said and done and the Lord returns in all his wondrous
glory, we will gaze finally upon the "river of the water of life, as clear
as a crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb..." The recorded story of humanity will end as it
began, with God, the "Alpha and the Omega," revealing a "new
heaven and a new earth,” where he will give us to drink "from the spring
of the water of life" forever. (Revelation 21)
(Created in January 2019)
(All Scripture passages taken from the New International Version of the
Holy Bible.)
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