Drink the Water of Life

Scripture — Isaiah 12:2-3 (NRSV)

“Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and will not be afraid,
for the Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.”
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Devotion

As I write these words, it’s the end of August. The ground outside my office window is parched. Red-orange Georgia clay cracks beneath the browning grass. We’ve had less than half of an inch of rain over the past month, and temperatures have consistently been in the upper 90s. I think to myself, maybe during Advent we will see some rain. But if last year’s weather repeats itself, December, too, will be dry.

The land here is thirsty. When I water my plants, the earth barely knows what to do–like it has forgotten how to receive nourishment. The same can be true for our souls, at times.

I think about the busyness of our days: how the din of traffic, trains, and airport terminals can drown out the cries of our hearts; how our packed schedules leave little room for rest and reflection; and how finding quiet space for attending to our souls and being present with the Lord can feel impossible. Like the deer that “longs for flowing streams,” our souls thirst for God (Psalm 42:1, NRSV), but we may not realize how thirsty we are until we stop long enough to notice. We are parched; our souls are weak.

The prophet Isaiah spoke to a people who knew thirst. Their area of the world lacked water and was prone to drought. Their fields needed rain. Their souls needed refreshment. The psalmist had cried out,

O God, you are my God; I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)

To those exiled to Assyria, Isaiah promised that the Lord would bring back a remnant. The faithful would see a shoot come from a stump (Isaiah 11:1). From the withered hope of a faithful king would come one in the line of King David who would judge in righteousness and forge true peace (Isaiah 11:2-9). Life would spring from death. Water would flow in the desert.

But it would be a different sort of water. Isaiah told the exiles that they would sing a song of praise. “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation,” Isaiah proclaimed (Isaiah 12:3). They would drink living water.

When he sat down near Jacob’s well, Jesus told the Samaritan woman who was there, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). Later, during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, Jesus told the crowd, “‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38). John the Apostle added that Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit.

Those who were waiting for Jesus’ first coming thirsted for him. They needed grace to replace the grace given to them by Moses. They longed for God’s salvation.

Even though we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we can still thirst for Christ. We can still yearn for his presence. We want Jesus to dwell among us as he did when the Word was made flesh (John 1:1).

Advent is the season for thirsting for Jesus. We long for him to come again and to set the world to right. We long to dwell with God in the new creation where we will sing God’s praises:

“Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and will not be afraid,
for the Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).

This Advent, may we find ways to disrupt our comings and goings so that we can be present with the Lord, drinking deeply of the wells of salvation.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Peace and Prosperity (Isaiah 9ff.).