Alive in Living Water

When the boys were little, anything breathing and moving outside was ... game.  Every lizard, squirrel, bird, and toad were open to the imaginations

of little boys.  You know, come to think of it, yard animals did become scarce!

 

It means "the descender" and quite properly named because it rises from the foot of Mount Hermon at 1,000 feet ABOVE sea level and makes its way to the Sea of Galilee nearly 1,300 feet BELOW sea level.  Flowing through marsh areas of reeds, bulrushes, and papyrus, the Jordan River then leaves the Sea of Galilee twisting and turning some 65 miles while [again] descending 590 feet and emptying into the Dead Sea. Over time the river has carved a deep and winding course for itself, which has characterized the landscape with rocky gorges.  For its full course of more than 200 miles, it brings life waters to Israel.  Jesus described Himself in John 7:38 as "living water."  Living is the opposite of dead, so Jesus described Himself as Life to the living.  The Jordan River freely flows through Israel, giving shape to the land as does The Living Christ when we freely give Him control of our lives.  Too often we find ourselves full of the debris of sin (bad habits, negative attitudes, apathy, spiritual neglect), and His Spirit is unable to work freely through us.  When I think of those fresh snow waters from Mount Hermon and how they are the source waters of The Jordan, I think of what we can be to others when Christ is The Source in our lives -- refreshing, renewing, alive ... fully alive in Living Water!