Rivers of Living Water

Coming to the farm ushered in a life of memorable firsts.  I remember the first time the cows escaped from the pasture.  It was not a tree falling over the fence, but the gate being left open.  I remember, too, my first days of working with a chainsaw.  Having never picked up one, it took forever to figure out the choking mechanism.  And, one of my favorite memories is the day the tractor was delivered and put on the ground.  I had sat on a tractor, but never drove one.  I remember the  day.  It was raining, but the tractor was here and I was so excited I spent the day working in the rain.

 

There is one  memory, though, which border on being miracle like.  Whenever I turn on the spigot in the house and fill a glass of clean clear water, I remember the first time I had anything to do with a deep well being drilled  into the earth.  I am still amazed that clean drinking water comes from a river that runs deep in the earth.  It is water that requires no purifying chemicals.  It comes ready to drink.  To drink water that has come from so deep in the earth always seems like participating in a miracle.

Some of the writers of spiritual stuff use the image of a river to speak of life with God.  The river image speaks of the movement of the Spirit in the world and our being willing to be carried by its currents into wherever it would take us.  This river of God is not a trickling stream but a powerful force of the Spirit which moves from the deep place within the very heart of God.  Jesus spoke of springs of water (John 4:14) and rivers of living water (John 7:38).   It is nothing short of a miracle that this river of living water can flow into and out of the hearts of those who trust in God.  (John 7:38).