Living Water

February 27, 2022

Good Sunday Morning Yahweh. It’s a new day. A new week. Thank you for waking me up and thank you for life. I guess the importance of water to me is still on my mind – physically and spiritually.  I just took a mouthful of water and realised that it wasn’t enough. Physically I’ve always been shocked when someone says they don’t like water and that they don’t drink it. And usually I’m like what? How is that possible? It obviously is. But how? The truth is, it has a lot to do with how we train our bodies. A friend of mine hated plain water and always bought flavoured water. So she would drink it, but would always add something to it. And as I’m writing here, I remember the guy who ended the programme yesterday spoke about how years ago everyone would drink pipe water no problem but now everyone (well not everyone, but a lot of people), want bottled water and there are so many brands. 

But this morning, thinking about water made certain thoughts come to the fore.

Living Water: 

1. I think it’s not just about the water, but the living. Living: to abide, to dwell. To continue, to be permanent; not to perish. Water stays with us always and does not die. Another/additional definition says to be animated (to move). When I think of living water, I envision rivers, streams and seas and they are always in motion.

And that’s how Jesus is to us: he abides with us. He is permanent and he’s always moving us. When it comes to rivers especially, there’s a source it comes from and if that source is broken the river dries up. 

1. Bottled water is not living. But we want to run for bottled water. That water has long been disconnected from its source. I’ve seen bottled water with expiration dates and honestly this made me think of religion. The different brands of water with different logos. Who is alkaline water, who has added vitamins, who says they will increase your brain capacity. Who has pretty packaging and who doesn’t. It makes me think of the million and one denominations (and non-denominational is a denomination anyhow you take it). They all make claims as to why they are better than the other. Why you should buy their water, but the truth is all religion is dead water that is cut off from the source (even the one that I affiliate with). But bottled water still provides nourishment. It still improves our bodies health and if you’re not able to drink directly from the river or spring then you better drink the bottled water because it will at least keep you alive. 
2. Flavoured water: if I were to classify this, I would say don’t drink. Not physically or spiritually. It’s mostly water but something has been added to change it fundamentally. Living Water naturally contains minerals etc and while it’s taste can differ based on where the source passed through to get to me it’s only water (the part of the Bible I read). But flavoured water has been tampered with way more than bottled water. Things have been added to make it more palatable, to look more appealing (why does my water need to be pink?). And that’s often how Satan works. It takes the source material and distorts it so that the original can’t really be seen. But oh is it pretty. And this goes beyond the packaging.
3. Living Water: fresh, straight from the source. I recently had a visitor to my house who asked for a glass of water. Of course he would get it. We collect rainwater (which is definitely water from the source also) and that is what is used for drinking. The visitor was puzzled when he saw me feeling the glass from a second faucet and I explained to him what it was. (Caveat – rainwater collection only is for drinking where pollution is none existent. NYC is not such a place, but where I live? Most people actually collect rainwater or go to a spring. But I digress). The guy tasted the water and his mouth literally dropped open. He got excited: this is the sweetest water I’ve ever had! Oh my gosh, it tastes so good!! 
4. What makes living water or in this case rainwater so sweet? By sweet it means it tastes so good. It’s a direct connection with only little filtering and the filter I would liken unto the Holy Spirit. The filter isn’t changing the water. The rainwater is not going through a massive manufacturing process passing through a lot of people before it gets to you. It’s rain/filter/me. That’s it. The difference is immediately obvious. Bottled water works fine, until you’ve had that pure rain or spring water. It is almost impossible to go back. When the Bible says taste and see, it wasn’t kidding. You taste the difference. The awesome thing, we can drink directly from the sauce without it having to go through a million people.

John 7: 37, 38 – On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus was standing in the temple courtyard. He said loudly, “Whoever is thirsty must come to me and drink. As scripture says, ‘Streams of Living Water with flow from deep within the person who believes in me.'”

Direct source. Living moving water. Streams are always moving. Connect to that source and you’ll have the sweetest water ever. Now less you say you’re going to leave the church you go to, take note, bottled water is still good water. It can still sustain you and we should gather together. Yahweh has his sanctuary where he calls his people together to worship Him. But that personal relationship is of utmost importance. The bottled water is there, but make sure and also tap directly into the source. 

Revelation 7:17 – The lamb in the centre near the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. 

It’s not possible to wipe someone’s tears if they are far away. We have to allow Yahweh near us. We have to connect to the source: it is what sustains us in the long run. It will give us strength to walk this work. Thank you Yahweh for your life giving water and that connection to you that sustains me. That’s sweeter than any other. Thank you, just thank you.

CONFESSION: As an artistic expression, I like rap. Like all musical forms, it can be used for good or bad. I went searching for Living Water by Travis Greene and saw another song just released by folks I had never heard of. Of course it turned out to be rap and I honestly liked it. It wasn’t even the vibe I was thinking but it was good. Kingdom Muzic Presents Bryann T – Living Water Ft. Antwoine Hill & Brandon Trejo.