Desert Springs - August 3 Readings: 2 Chronicles 31-32, Acts 25:13–27, Psalm 89:42–48, Proverbs 19:12–14

Links to August 3 Readings: 2 Chronicles 31-32, Acts 25:13–27, Psalm 89:42–48, Proverbs19:12–14

The Bible is filled with natural symbolism. Jesus was born into the dark night, the night into which the angels appeared to announce his coming. The light shone in the darkness. That was not an accident. The Temple was on top of a mountain - it was more than symbolism that the Hebrews had to "go up" into the presence of God.

But Israel is also a dry land. When you visit Israel, you see the extent to which the nation went in the past and still goes today to grow crops and provide drinking water. Cisterns. Aqueducts. Water management. No one can live without water.

In 2 Chronicles 32:30 we learn about Hezekiah's tunnel, built through the rock in the ancient City of David. When we toured the tunnel, the archaelogist explained how the tunnel was created to manage water so that the people of Jerusalem could live. Finding and using water well is a key to living in a place like Israel.

And that is no accident.

Like Israel, this is a spiritually dry world. Sin has dammed the flow of the water of life that came from God and has left us parched. We look for water in many things. We think that the world's joys, its entertainment and fun can give us water, but it is a mirage. We seek the water of life from relationships, from love, from sex - a poisoned well that does not slake our thirst. We look to money and possessions as the source of life but only find our souls in drought.

If you are going to live in this world, you need water. You can't live physically without water and your soul needs living water. As Hezekiah provided water for Jerusalem, Jesus Christ provides water for us. When we turn from sin and trust Christ, he places a stream of living water inside us. When we who have been redeemed seek him, when we drink deeply from that water that comes from Christ, we can live and thrive in this desert of a world.

Father, thank you for the water of life that flows from inside of me because of what Jesus Christ has done. May I not seek water from this world's mirages or poisoned wells, but from the sweet water of life you give.