Living Waters

I am an avid kayaker.  I love getting into the cockpit of a tiny boat that is only inches above the water, launching from the shore, and paddling nearby rivers and lakes.  There is a calmness and serenity that comes with paddling.  You become more connected with nature, oneself, and I find myself drawing closer to God.  These are special times for me, and as I paddle, I find opportunities to meditate and pray, thanking God for all His goodness and grace.  One end of a dripping paddle blade rises out of the water while the other blade plunges under the surface, pushing against the water’s resistance.  I settle into a rhythmic stroke with one paddle blade rising high while the other dips low below, and in this manner  I propel myself across the surface of the water.  Time and distance blur and blend together, and the only sensations are the movement of the paddle and boat, my body moving and twisting, dripping water, and the wind across my face.  It is here in this moment, in a tiny boat alone with God, that life makes the most sense to me.

This connection to water and of water with man is deliberate and has purpose.  God, in His infinite greatness, designed man to thirst after both natural and unnatural   waters.  Another term for unnatural waters would be spiritual waters.  Spiritual waters are God’s Word that flows like a never ending stream of life from Him to man.  In both cases, man will die from lack of both kinds of water.  In the first instance, it is a physical death.  In the second, a spiritual one. This brings me to the title of my message – Living Waters.

First, let’s look at the importance of physical water.  Water is the fundamental building block of all known life forms.  Our bodies are 65% water.  Human beings can survive only 3 – 5 days without water.  Nearly 71% of the Earth is made up of water.  Clearly we need physical water to survive, and our ecosystem is dependent on water too.

What about the physical characteristics of water?  Let’s look at how rain is formed.  Rain is formed by warm air that rises up into the sky.  The warm air collects together to form clouds. Then the droplets get bigger and heavier, and they form rain.  The rain falls to earth.  The cycle repeats.  That is the process in the natural world.

But what about in the spiritual world?  Jesus desires us to rise higher in our understanding of Him and warns us not to accept superficial meaning of His word.  “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.” (Hebrews 5:12-13)  It is in this manner that we, as Sons of God, need to rise higher and collect and form together with other like-minded people.  And with a collective voice, proclaiming truth, we need to both rain (r-a-i-n) and reign (r-e-i-g-n) upon this dry earth.  “For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.” (Isaiah 44: 3-4)

 Another characteristic of physical water is that it requires a container or vessel for us to hold it and ultimately to drink of it.  But what happens if the holder of the water is cracked or broken? Does not the water leak out?  And if the container is defective in some way, how do we get access to the much needed physical water?

Spiritually, the Bible warns us that broken vessels cannot retain the living waters. “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns - broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13).  "Cistern" comes from the Hebrew word kiste which means “basket” and refers to a waterproof receptacle holding liquids, usually water.  Cisterns were often built to catch and store rainwater.  Isn’t that interesting?  Man, as living cisterns or vessels, needs to be both receptive and willing to receive the living waters from Jesus the Christ.  A broken cistern can still receive, but some of the living waters are not retained by that broken man.  But, even then, do not the remaining living waters still fall upon a dry earth to water and nourish others?  In other words, life - the Word - flows out of the fountain of living waters (God) but is never wasted!  It’s just that some vessels – men - are more ready to retain the Word than others! The Word, or living waters that are not retained by some men are never wasted.  Praise God!

Here is another interesting characteristic of physical water.  It follows the contours of a stream, river, or lake.  Its course is dictated by the land that contains and holds the water.  As a kayaker, I am always mindful of the flow of water and its reaction as it enters narrow, restricted areas or widens out into larger bodies of water like ponds and lakes.  So what happens when flowing water meets obstacles in its path?  One of two things happen.  1) Water either flows “around” the obstacle or 2) Water flows higher until it submerges the obstacle and then flows “over” the obstacle.

Now, let’s look at the spiritual world.  Isn't a man who is not receptive to the living waters like an island, cut off from the body of believers and from God?  You may have heard of the saying “no man is an island.”  God is not tolerant of men who isolate themselves from Him or exult themselves above Him.  “Then every island flew away, and the mountains were not found.” (Revelation 16:20)  Jesus tells us that we should not be obstacles or unreceptive to the living waters.  Instead, we are to drink of these living waters. And we in turn, by our belief, become a fountain of living waters too.  “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)  We are to be more than just cisterns or vessels of living waters.  We must drink of ourselves!  “Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.  Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?   Let them be only your own, and not for strangers with you.  Let your fountain be blessed.” (Proverbs 5:15-18) In other words, let us too partake of these mighty waters that well up within ourselves and quench our spiritual thirst with the Words of God!

Remember the woman at the well?  Jesus asked her for a drink of water.  She was puzzled because Jesus had nothing to draw the water from the deep 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)

I’ve talked a lot on both physical and spiritual waters.  Physical water is essential to our physical health and survival.  We get it.  But how are we supposed to receive these spiritual waters?

For me, these living waters ebb and flow just like in the physical world.  Sometimes when I am more receptive and “tuned” into God, these waters flow like the rapids, and the waters dance and sing as they crash against the rocks and boulders.  Others times, it is slow and quiet like a stream meandering its way through a forest.  But what these waters echo are Jesus’s invitation to us all.  Jesus, who lives within us, speaks to the hearts of all men, offering the water of eternal life, the life that flows from God.  And the beauty of it all, this gift of living waters, is a free one!  It is ours for the taking if we are only receptive and willing to receive it!  So today, let’s all of us be whole (not cracked) vessels of living waters and drink deeply of the Word of God.  Amen and amen. 

~ Deacon Mike West