By Rev. Aidan Moon

Drinking from the River of God

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.

“How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.”

– Psalm 36:7-9, English Standard Version

I grew up in the high desert climate of eastern Colorado. Rain could be a rare occurrence, and so we and all other living creatures relied on springs of water for life. In the midst of barren country, you would suddenly find a low spot where water bubbled up to form streams of water, a source of life in a dry place.

It should perhaps be no surprise how often water is a picture of life in Scripture, given its setting. Much of God’s story takes place in dry places, where water is scarce. Therefore, the image of God’s mercy and love as a fountain of life is all over the story. In the wilderness, God provides a spring of water from the rock. It bursts forth, a source of life where there was none, to make it clear that life is God’s gift. But this goes beyond providing for life. Jesus has something more in mind when he speaks to a woman by the well in Samaria:

“…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

– John 4:14, English Standard Version

Our lives can become dry, devoid of true, eternal life when we are separated from God. We may go through the motions of life, but we need something more. But Jesus’ mercy on sinners is our source of renewed life. It is the spring bubbling up that brings life in the wilderness, which enlivens our hearts so that we might live now and into eternity. We have access to Jesus’ life by his Word of mercy and love, spoken over us, restoring us, like that first drink of water after a long run, or the refreshing flow of a cleansing shower after a day of hard work. We come to the Word of Jesus eager for it to refresh our souls, and that it would become in us a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. We pray:

“Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.”

– Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,

Hymn by Robert Robinson (1758)

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado