The Power of Water

“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…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.”-Revelation 22:1-3 (NIV)

My son and I were reading his nightly bible story together in his picture Bible a few nights ago. The stories are abbreviated versions of actual scripture passages with pictures that are colorful and bring images to life for children.

He likes to choose random stories, but he does it by having me turn around or close my eyes, then when he has chosen the story he wants me to read based on the picture, he tells me to open my eyes and he shows me the story with excitement.

On this particular night he chose the story in Numbers 20 where God had Moses provide water for the Israelites from a rock. Granted, Moses didn’t do things correctly in the story, but ultimately it was about how God provided even in Moses’ disobedience.

The cartoon picture was of Moses and Aaron standing by the rock with a flowing stream of water coming out. The Israelites were jumping for joy with hands raised taking the water they were hoping for. In fact, the whole story is the Israelites were getting angry that they were thirsty and were beginning to distrust Moses and Aaron’s leadership. So, they were pretty excited to finally have something to drink.

My son saw the picture and, as he so often does, stopped me in the middle of telling the story to say, “Daddy, I want to tell you sumfin’. I love water! It makes us full and keeps us healthy!”

I couldn’t keep myself from smiling. How true!

God uses water as the image of life throughout Scripture. I can only assume it’s because He knew that when He created us we would need water to survive. Water plays such an integral part of illustrating the everlasting love and life we receive from God, mainly through His Son.

In the New Testament we find Jesus interacting with people by sources of water on a regular basis. He meets His disciples by the Sea of Galilee(Matthew 4:18); He heals a paralytic by the Pool of Bethesda (John 5); He helps redeem a woman from her pain and lifestyle that was of ill repute (John 4)and many other accounts are found in scripture.

Jesus constantly reveals His power through water and the healing process that comes only through Him.

When we think of Jesus as living water, as He describes Himself, that will always quench our thirst, then we should experience great hope in our darkest times and hardest struggles. When we are feeling empty or rundown, we need to rest on the life source. The well that will never run dry is found in the Son of God.

Jesus Christ is the fountain of truth, love, peace, healing, and restoration. No one else can provide the life that He provides.

As I think of my son’s words, “Water makes us full and keeps us healthy”, I cannot stop thinking of the fullness of life that Jesus provides and the spiritual health that He gives in order for us to experience eternal life.

May we rest in the truth of Jesus. May we rest in the fullness of His healing power. May we experience the source of everlasting life.

Peace and blessings friends.

QUESTION: How much water do you drink daily? (Yes, this is metaphorical.)