The Wild Water of Life!

Peter Neilson May 04, 2024 1 0

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Revelation 22: 16-17 (NIVUK)

16 ‘I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.’

17 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.

‘Whoever is thirsty, let them come…’

Thirst is a Biblical metaphor for the deepest desires and longings of the human heart. It speaks of a profound, aching absence, what one writer calls a “Grand Canyon of longing” to know and be known by the living God.

Augustine spoke of the human heart being “restless” until it found its ultimate rest in God. C.S. Lewis says this desire is the “secret signature of the soul”. D.H. Lawrence uses the imagery of “the humming of unseen harps within us.” All speak of an insatiable longing.

When that all-consuming longing for God is squandered on lesser loves, then we create the chaos that John has described in the wild visions, his Apocalypse. These are the devastating effects of misdirected desires, directly or indirectly.

Now comes this wistful, wooing invitation. “Come... Come...”. “The Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come’” – a gracious invitation to focus that inner fire where it belongs. Listen to that deep longing within you. “Come and take the free gift of the water of life.” Drink and your dried-up soul will revive within you. This is what you were made for.

Prayer:

Loving God, I have drifted far from You.

I have made bad choices and chased false dreams.

And still You invite me to come.

Lord Jesus, I know Your Voice

Echoing down the years, long forgotten

Strangely familiar, still recognised,

Inviting me to come.

Just as I am, sucked dry by lies and illusions,

Weary of wrong turnings and dead-ends,

I come to drink deeply of Your water of life.

Home at last. AMEN