Bible Reading: Ezekiel 47: 12
Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
There is a glory and such a relief when it rains after a dry spell – and some dry spells in this area are very long. We usually hear the patter on the conservatory roof first of all. There is such joy in rain! It certainly brings out the child in me. As I write this, after a thunderstorm, I can smell the greenness as life comes back to plants, birds and insects alike. What a relief after dryness which has threatened to damage and destroy.
Ezekiel would have understood the need for water, especially for fresh water. What a gift we have in our constant supply of good, fresh water from our taps – and how we miss it when supply is limited or cut off completely. Ezekiel sees the River of Life, coming from the Throne of God and bringing the desert to life. Without water we struggle, ultimately we would die; without the water of the Holy Spirit in our lives we can never know life in freedom and forgiveness.
Today, consider water – what it means to our gardens, to our fields, to ourselves. Consider God as the one who brings us to life, making us more real and more like the people he intended us to be, flourishing in his love and forgiving grace.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, pour into our lives; flow like a river into our hearts and make them clean for you. Make us generous with the love you give us, that your power may flow through us to heal and renew others. May the seeds we sow be watered by you to become strong plants and trees of faith, hope and love. Through Jesus our Lord. Amen