The River of God

The Heavenly man brought me back to the door of the temple. But...there was water flowing from the temple! It looked like a little stream, but as the Holy man led me closer to it, I noticed it was much bigger. The water shimmered and twinkled, constantly rushing by me and towards the world.

We had been going eastwards, when the Holy man stopped. Using his ever-present measuring line, he measured a thousand cubits (18,000 inches). Waving his bronze colored arm, he urged me to follow him into the river. The crystal clear water only came up to my ankles. The Heavenly man measured another thousand cubits. The water was up to my knees now. He lead me through another thousand cubits of water, and by now, it had reached my waist. How much longer were we going to wade through this water? The Heavenly man paid my questioning glance no attention, and he measured out another thousand cubits. By the time we reached his destination, I had to swim to keep my head above the water. The little stream had grown into a mighty river!

The water felt lovely. Revitalizing. The kind of water that goes beyond the physical, and refreshes the soul. I dunked my head under the surface just for a few seconds, feeling it caress me and take me into it's current. Breaking the surface, I blinked my eyes a few times, looking to and fro for the Holy man. There he was! Seeing he had my full attention, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Son of man, have you seen this?"

Based on Ezekiel 47:1-6

The man went on to describe this incredible river and how it would affect the world around it. Take a look at verses 9 and 12:

"And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes." Ezekiel 47:9

"And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of tress for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing." Ezekiel 47:12

I just see incredible parallels for the church from this river. This river started flowing from the temple; Incredible, Godly works should be flowing from the church, God's people. It started off as just a trickle, but turned into a mighty, rushing river; The more we start reaching into the things of God, the more of it we will see. Just like Ezekiel we need to keep going deeper and deeper, a thousand cubits at a time. Don't just read this and say, "Yeah, that's us. We are a mighty, rushing river. We flow with the things of God," and then just go about your day. A mighty river of God does not behave like a still-water, man-made pond! Wherever God's river goes, it is supposed to give life to all creatures. Do we do that? There is supposed to be fish in this river. There is supposed to be strong, healthy trees on either side, always bearing fruit for food and leaves for healing. Where is it? Where are our souls to be saved, our strong witnesses, our fruit of the spirit, and our physical and spiritual healing ministry?

Don't read this and not live this. We are supposed to be His river with all the fixings. And that requires more from us then just thought. It requires us to take a step into the river. And then another one. And then another one. Step after step, until we are fully immersed in God.

God is asking us, "Have you seen this?" Yes or No? Or is that finally going to change?