[This reflection by Michael Goble was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 21/Jul/2024]
In the arid centre of Australia there is a river called Todd River which flows through Alice Springs. It is quite wide and there are big stone bridges for the traffic to drive across the river. Each year in the town they hold the Henley-on-Todd Regatta and about 20,000 people come to watch the boating races. There is only one problem.
Almost all the time the river is a dried up riverbed, but this does not stop the local teams taking part. They use bottomless boats which are picked up by the competitors as they stand inside them and they run down the river for the races. There was one occasion however when they had to cancel the regatta. They couldn’t hold the boating races because there had been torrential rain and the river was full of water!
This is an example of being able to do without water where necessary, but when it comes to life itself then there is no way that we can exist without water. That is why it was present when God formed the earth in Genesis 1, ultimately leading to the creation of our lives; and because He created it, Jesus showed his control over water (and the winds) when He stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee. As the disciples said “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” (Luke 8 v25). It is good that Jesus has control over the water which we need to drink and to live.
But more than our physical life is the water we need to receive God’s eternal life, which He gives us through Jesus, the Living Water. “The Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Isaiah 12 v2-3). As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “The water that I give will become…a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (John 4 v14).
I never complain when it rains, and always give thanks to God for giving us water, both to drink for our lives now, and also especially for the Living Water which ensures our future life with Him.
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Last week’s reflection: JESUS – The Centre by Martin Shorey
Contributed by Michael Goble; © Michael Goble