I remember going to the mountains of British Columbia where the water tasted as if it had come from a mountain spring, probably because it had. When the source of water is good then the river is clean. If the source of water is polluted then there is no hope for the river to be clean.
When our love for God is our source all our others loves flow out of our love for Him. His pure water flows into ever corner of our lives filling us with life. It then continues flowing into the lives of those around us filling them with life as well. But if we love something else above God then the river is polluited and no amount prayer, or church going can do us any good.
If you do not have life giving water flowing into you its not likely because you haven’t found your identity in Christ. Its probably because you are not connected to the right water source. Jesus is not your only God. If you don’t have the life giving Holy Spirit within you, you don’t need a seven step program to freedom. You need to be born again.
We So often, we say we love God but the fruit coming forth from our lives tells a different story. Instead of having joy and peace, we are anxious and irritable. Instead of love, we respond to others with outbursts of anger or passive aggressive wrath. We worry instead of trusting God and our minds are full of wicked thoughts.
How can we say that God is first in our lives when we spend the majority of our time serving ourselves? We need to examine our lives to see if we are bearing the type of fruit that shows we are connected to the right tree. Idolatry does not bring forth good fruit.
Now, just because the source of the river is good that doest guaranty the water can’t become polluted. The water in the mountains is clean and fast moving. As it slows down it stagnates. Scum begins to build and the water becomes unfit to drink. We don’t pour out of an overflow. This is spiritual death. We must pour out everything we have like a river. The ickiest swamp will pour out of an overflow. Only a life giving spring pours out everything.
Do you drink water from a glass that you filled a week ago? Probably not. Water is only good while it is fresh. So also with the spirit. Two day old manna is no more fit to eat than the maggots that climb in it.
Beautiful post, beautiful truth. I once heard the example of an old water pump, with a green, slimy bucket beneath the spout. As the handle is pumped and pumped and pumped, eventually water comes out, then more and more. Soon the bucket fills and overflows. Eventually, if the water continues, the slime is washed out and the bucket, and the water within, is clean. But in order for it to stay clean, you have to keep pumping the water into it. It is the same for our souls – we must keep pumping God's Word into our lives, which will cleanse, purify and keep us ready for service.