When I backpack, water is the most critical weight I carry. Without it, I could die, without enough, my face becomes hot and flushed and my movement labored. In the parched lands of the Bible, water is one of the most frequent and vivid metaphors. When you know you are going to die without it, as the Israelites felt they were when they confronted God through Moses at Massah and Mariah in Exodus 17, you become desperate and demanding and non trusting.
We live through the water we drink. Yet the Old and New Testament are filled with references to “living water,” a source of eternal life that comes only from God and quenches our bodily thirst forever. We find it spiritually as we accept God’s Presence to sustain our souls with the Holy Spirit. And we know it when we share our love with others. Someday, no longer separated from Him by our earthly bodies, we will be sustained eternally.
With joy you will drink deeply
from the fountain of salvation!
Isaiah 12:3
On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” John 7:37, 38
He will lead them to springs of life-giving water.
And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Revelation 7:17
Washing dishes
High in the Goat Rocks Wilderness
