River or river bed?

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:1-5 NV)

The Bible is full of images of water, fountains, and rivers that symbolize God in some way. In Genesis 2 we hear of a river that flows from the Garden of Eden. Ezekiel 47 we are given a vision of God’s river coming from the city of God. Among other images, in John 4 Jesus talked about himself as the Living Water. And in Revelation 22 we see a “river of life” that flows from the throne of God. As you know, in the natural realm water is absolutely necessary for human life, but in the spiritual realm we were created to be “thirsty” for the “water” of the Spirit.

Continuing with the God-as-water metaphor, in our day and age it’s easy to dip a toe into the “river” of God, but never go all the way in. We may (or may not) be regular church attenders, may or may not pray or tithe or read our Bibles, but at least we believe in God, we say. While that is a good start, we’re missing the fullness of what God has for us. We may be on the river bed of faith, going ankle deep into the water or even wading a bit into worship, the Word, and faith. God’s calling, though, is to the center of his Love, Grace, Peace, and Hope – the center of this “river” of the Abundant Life.

Hear this invitation:

Step into the water in the river bed.  The river bed is good – there are cooling breezes from the water and you won’t get lost in the wilderness outside of it.  But in the water is better.  The water of the river of life is pure, holy.  Sing and praise as you enter the river.  You won’t drown, you will drink from my river of life and have all you need.  Don’t be afraid of the river.  I won’t hurt you.  I will wash you but you won’t drown.  I will hold you up.  You won’t scrape your feet on the rocks of the river bed because you’ll be having too much fun swimming in the flow.  The water is warm and not too fast. I’ll carry you.  When you get tired I’ll hold you up so you can rest.  This river will never overwhelm or frighten you; you’ll always be able to breathe.  Don’t stand in the cool, wet sand or the mud, but come all the way into the water.  My joy lives in the water and wants to dance with you in the water of my flow.  Come dance with me, Child.  Take a step. Join me in the river of life!

Living Water,

Give us courage to fully enter the joy of your River of Life. Quench our thirst with your Living Water. May your River of Living Water flow from us to quench the thirsts of this world with your Spirit, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14 NIV)

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 in him were later to receive.  (John 7:37-39 NIV)