A few years ago, we owned a cabin on the Au Sable River in Northern Michigan. It’s a beautiful river, flowing at about 5-7 miles per hour and has been called “the most canoed river in the world”. It brings life! It has always been considered one of the top Trout streams in North America. A national publication wrote about it a few years back and said, “Man can make lakes, but only God can make a river”. It’s true!

In contrast with the Au Sable, we were in Israel with some of my family 3 years ago and had the opportunity to view the Dead Sea. Interestingly, rivers flow into it but nothing flows out! My family enjoyed floating in the salt laden waters!
But none of it was flowing out! You had to go to it, it does not flow to you. At the time I thought of this verse: “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him”. John 7:38. WOW!

Christians can either be “rivers of living water” bringing life to all that they touch, using their gifts, reflecting Jesus or they can just be soaking up truth, sitting in pews but never sharing, never giving it out! We can be “Dead Sea Christians”! The promise to be rivers of living water is universal, it’s to every person that believes in Jesus! The river that flows through us is His life, not our abilities! He just wants us to be a channel, not the source! He is the source of all real life!

I believe that the real joy of belonging to Jesus is in being a river and giving away what we have been given! The source of rivers is sometimes a mystery but the source of life in us is not a mystery, it is the Holy Spirit! Share it friends! What you will find is that you will never run out! The more you give away, the more you will have to share! This river never runs dry! Take it in! And then give it out! Let it be said of you, ” a river runs through him/her”.

Pastor Terry