Rivers of Living Water

In the prophet Isaiah there is a passage which talks about seeking water and God giving it. This is a metaphor for having God’s life in our hearts. Here is the passage: “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together; that men may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it” (Isaiah 41:17-20).

This seeking and granting of water is fulfilled in Jesus. “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, ‘If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ’ Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37-39). After Jesus has been crucified/glorified, blood and water flow out of His heart; we receive the same heart at baptism and Eucharist so that out of our heart flows rivers of living waters. God makes the desert a pool of water with trees; God makes our dead heart a heart that loves, trusts and obeys Him.

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