~ Have You Checked Your
Water Lately? ~
Water Entering In ~ “Jesus
answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God’” (John 3:5). Jesus the Messiah was
explaining to Nicodemus the process of new birth.
Water Springing Up ~ There
is a key lesson from the account of a Samaritan woman meeting the Messiah at a
well. “Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will
thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never
thirst. But the water that I shall give
him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting
life’” (John 4:13-14). The natural outcome of this water springing
up is worship.
Water Flowing Along ~ “On
the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If
anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his heart will
flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom
those believing in Him would
receive; for the Holy Spirit was not
yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37-39). Jesus is interacting
with the religious leaders of His day. The
concept of “rivers of living water” is about the role of the Holy Spirit and
this passage relates to our service for Him.
A Watered Garden ~ “The
Lord will guide you continually, and
satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail” (Isaiah 58:11). A watered garden brings
to mind the concept of maturity.
concluding thought: A key characteristic of
physical water is that it seeks its own level. Left to our own devices we
continue to sin because of our sin nature. When we follow the steps listed
above, we rise from our old natural level to our new spiritual level. The new birth is just that—we are new creatures
(not fixed old creatures). “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things
have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). As we worship and serve Him through the power of the Spirit of God, we mature towards Christ-likeness. “But we
all [Christians], with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image [the image of the glory of
Christ] from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
A second key characteristic of water is its value in
cleaning. Of course we know that it is the blood of the slain Christ which has
the power of washing away sin—however water is also seen as a cleansing agent. “Jesus answered him
[Peter], ‘If I do not wash you [speaking of physical water], you have no part
with Me’” (John 13:8b). The Psalmist prayed, “Wash me thoroughly from
my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:2). One of the symbolisms of the
waters of baptism is that of washing, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away
your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
How’s your spiritual water level? Has it entered in? Is it
springing up? Is it flowing along? Are you a well-watered garden?
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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