Water, Water Everywhere
by Ellen O’Neal
Ezekiel 47:9. And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will love where the river goes.
How often it is that God uses the imagery of water to demonstrate His love, the vastness of his Kingdom and His healing powers. Water, essential to all life, which constantly seeks to spread to lower ground, is a perfect metaphor for God’s kingdom. I know that at the end of a long, hard day, nothing is more satisfying and healing to me than to slowly slip into the “healing waters” of a hot bath, to feel it wash around me. Similarly, children squeal with joy as they jump, over and over and over, into the cool blue water of a swimming pool on a hot day. In the passage from Ezekiel, the Bible describes the living waters of God as rapidly growing from a small stream into a huge and mighty river – at first it was ankle-deep, then it was knee-deep, then deep enough to swim in, then a river so deep and wide it could not be passed through. And on the banks, the trees feeding from that river will constantly bear fruit and never wither. In the passage from John 5, an invalid is led and healed at the Healing Pool. Finally, in Psalm 46, we read that “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.” The Lord makes this healing, living water available to all who would drink it. It washes over us and cleanses us, both nourishing us and washing away our sins. We should strive every day to lead ourselves to this water, to gulp it in as a man dying of thirst, and to let it wash over and cleanse us.
Lord, thank you for the gift of water, thank you that you have provided us with spiritual water to both nourish our souls and to wash us clean of our sinful nature. Guide me to your living waters so that I may be refreshed.
Additional scriptures: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12; Psalm 46:1-8; John 5:1-18