Chances are you haven’t read this yet. Even so, if you have, it is worth reading again. Because sometimes I know life just flows right by you. Just like the strong current of a river. So what do you say we go with the flow along the River of Life and fish for some Words of Encouragement along the way? Let’s do it!
As a little boy, I grew up hanging around the river a lot. I grew up in a tiny town called Palestine (not New Palestine) Illinois – it was known as a little rodeo town. It was right on the Indiana/Illinois border, and the border followed the Wabash River. My grandparents had a cabin on the river with a generator for power (yes, they had generators back in the 60s and 70s).
Life on the River
For my family that was like a vacation – getting to go to the cabin and spend the weekend on the mighty Wabash. We did lots of fishing. Pole fishing, trotline fishing, net fishing, and even bow & arrow fishing. We also seined for crawdads. And we had a lot of fish fries at the cabin with all the relatives.
Yes, the river was our life back then. The river sustained life, gave life, and we even heard of a life or two it had taken. I can remember when Grandad decided I was finally old enough to run the fishing boat on my own – that was a big day. We would fish from it and take it to the nearby sandbars to swim. I even learned to water ski from behind that 12’ aluminum fishing boat with a 25 hp Johnson.
The River (noun) – a large natural stream of water flowing in a channel to the sea, a lake, or another such stream.
Life-Giving River
A river is life-giving. There is life in it, and all around it. A river easily stands out during dry seasons. In the event of drought, lush trees and green shrubbery line its banks. Life from all over comes to the river to be sustained. During the hottest of seasons, the river refreshes. Life is drawn to the river.
God’s Word is a Life-Giving River
Isaiah 43:19 KJV
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Did you know that we are the source of the river of living water?
John 7:38-39a NIV
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit.
The Spirit of God lives in you, in your heart. You have life in you, powerful life. And did you know that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks? It is like a river with a powerful flow.
Proverbs 18:21a NIV
The tongue has the power of life and death,
If your heart is full of life, full of the word of God, full of Jesus, and with your tongue, you have the power to speak life, then you are a life-giving river that others can draw from. You literally have the power to give life. Your every-day-walking-around-kind-of-life is a powerful river! People will be drawn to that, drawn to you. Just like a river during a drought.
Challenge of the Week:
I am so thankful for the Rivers of Life. Look for the opportunity to ‘pour’ rivers of living water into someone this week. Your best friend, a stranger, your spouse, or your children? There is someone dry, parched, and like the woman at the well, needs living water. They need rivers of living water poured into their life. Will you be the one? So be it.
