Water of Life

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. - Revelation 22:17

These are the closing words of the Bible. It’s a warm invitation to lean in to our connection with Jesus, calling for closeness - and it’s an invitation to flourish.

That phrase, “water of life” comes up first in the Bible in the massively important prophecy in Ezekiel 47 that Jesus then fulfills in John 7 (read both chapters and see if you can make the connections - especially knowing that Ez. 47 was read each year and enacted at the Feast where Jesus makes the scene in Jn 7). The Ezekiel passage includes tons of images of this living water making everything else live, bear fruit and flourish. Here’s a piece of that prophecy:

Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows... 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 (Ez 47:9, 13).

If you had to paint a picture of your own life as fully alive, bearing fruit, and flourishing, what colors would you choose? What people would be in the picture? What emotions would you capture? Take some time in holy imagination today and envision this true and glorious aliveness that Jesus promises - and what it might look like for you.