Rivers of Living Water

An opening word from a devotional written by Oswald Chambers put it like this, "The river touches places of which its source knows nothing..."  (My Utmost for His Highest) .  A river is another one of those very visible physical things which speaks to us about the invisible spiritual dimension of life.  As Chambers pointed out, Jesus said, ",,,Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water."  (John 7:38)   A river flows near here.  There have been times when I have drove the ten miles just to watch the river as it comes and goes. 

 

While it may not sound like exciting earth shattering entertainment, there is something about the movement of the water which has a way of stirring the heart.  Sometimes it flows deep and strong enough to sweep a man from his feet and sometimes it is a knee deep trickle in which small children wade and play.  It is ever changing.  It comes from some place that cannot be seen and passes to the same place in the other direction.  It is constantly touching and changing the landscape which seeks to hold it in its place.

 

To think of the life of Christ being in us like a river is a powerful image to consider.  In the upstream of my life, someone dared to say "Yes" to Jesus and put in a motion a life of flowing consequences which eventually touched my life to shape and change it in ways I never could have conceived.  And downstream from where I have lived that same life giving water of Christ flows touching folks unknown to me and unseen by me.  It is not necessary for me to know how the waters of Christ which flow through me have shaped the hearts of others to know that it has happened.  As surely as a river touches countless shores, so does the river of living water Christ set in motion from each of us have shaping power on the lives of others.