Walk with me. Walk with me down to the river where the cool water will wash away the grime. Let the baked on sweat from the fires of this life just roll off and refresh your soul. There is just something so restorative about the cleansing of water.
Summertime is a great reminder of our need for a daily cleansing. The heat can be so oppressive and draining. Our skin feels slick and grubby as it tries to cool us down through the perspiration process. But, if we don’t replenish that water source through drinking, we can find ourselves in some deep trouble. We need that internal river to keep us alive. There is a daily cleansing that occurs to rid us of the build-up of toxins that would pollute our bodies.
Think of all the pleasures that you’ve experienced with water; swimming, snorkeling, skiing, boating, surfing, standing under a waterfall…the images are endless. Just the simple taste of cold water after working in the yard is a tremendous pleasure. I was watching my 3 year old granddaughter jumping off an anchored, floating-raft in a lake as she was squealing with absolute delight at the pleasure and freedom of the water.
So too, our souls need this daily cleansing. The soot of these life-fires can build up and clog our thinking. Before we know it, anxiety is closing in and anger and fear starts rising up. Our hearts and minds are slick with grime and those simple, joyous pleasures are a fading memory. Fortunately, there is an eternal river that flows from the heart of God. It is free-flowing and available to all who want to dip in and be washed clean. Jump in and splash around. Allow your mind to be renewed by the Word of God. It truly is freeing, cleansing. Those fires will be extinguished. Those anxieties put in their place. This river is a place of delight and meant to be so. Walk with Him. Walk with Him into His river and be restored.
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.”
Psalm 46:4 ESV
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb”
Revelation 22:1 ESV
“Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."”
John 4:10 ESV
“Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."”
John 4:13-14 ESV