The Rhine River is drying up. Who’d have thought it! Barges and boats are now high and dry in many places. And it’s the same across Europe and Asia. The Yangtse River is doing the same!
Water = life. Explorations towards human life possibly being sustained on the moon or Mars all hinge on them being able to find water. The Bible says that God is “the river of living water” (Jer 17:13). So, also, God = life. It is only by living in relationship with God, and drawing on His Spirit, that we can be really alive.
The Bible sadly reports that we have “forsaken God, the river of living water”, and that “we have made cisterns for ourselves”, but they are “broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:11-19). We imagine that many other things will be truly life-sustaining: career, family, wealth, realising our dreams, our morality, or religious practices. In the end, they all disappoint and fail us, sucking away the real life we long for.
On the cross Jesus uttered the cry, “I thirst” (Jn 19:28). He entered into all of humanity’s spiritual dryness – our ‘cosmic thirst’. His dying for our salvation then opened the ‘flood gates’ of God’s love, grace, forgiveness, and eternal life for the world and us (Jn 7:37-39), which are ours through faith in Him.
Grace and life, Jonathan.