Not for Private Consumption

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“But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won’t wither, the fruit won’t fail. Every month they’ll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47:12 The Message)

In the last post, we left Ezekiel possibly scratching his head over the swamps that were left for salt. To his way of thinking, they may have seemed useless. We also saw that the “swamp places” in our own lives, while perhaps not pleasant or inviting, still have an important function in our lives. It is in our “swamps” that a lot of growth and purification happens. It is in our “swamps” that a lot of junk is filtered out of our lives. We need to value those “swamps”.

In today’s verse, Ezekiel comes back to look at the main River of Life. He comes back to look at the part that he saw as vibrant and exciting. What did he see?

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• He saw fruit trees.
• The trees had leaves that wouldn’t wither.
• The trees produced fruit every month without fail.

Why would there be so much abundance? Why so much life. Because the river that flowed from God’s sanctuary, from His presence, flowed to them.

What was the abundance for? Was it simply pretty to look at? No, of course not. Ezekiel tells us two important things about those trees.

• The fruit was for food.
• The leaves were for healing.

So it is with the abundant life that God desires to give to us. When His River of Life touches our lives, we live abundantly. We will produce fruit. We can’t help it, because the River of Life brings life.

Is God’s River of Life flowing through and into your life, producing fruit? Is the fruit God is growing in your life being used to nourish others? Is your life being used to bring healing to others? Or are you mostly just enjoying the fruit for yourself?

The life God gives is not just for our own enjoyment. It is intended to be used for the nourishment and healing of those around us. Let’s not hold back.

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Time for Reflection

• Ask God to open your eyes and see how He wants you to use the “fruit” and “leaves” He is producing in your life.
• Does He bring someone specific to mind?
• How does He want you reach out to this person who needs nourishment and healing?
• Commit to sharing some of the abundance of the heart that God gives you with the person He brought to mind.

The Touch of Life

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We left Ezekiel following the angel into the deep waters of the River of Life that flowed out of the Temple. In the deep water, he would have been carried along by the current wherever the river went. The angel asks Ezekiel a question.

He said, “Son of man, have you had a good look?

Had the prophet seen what happened the further in and deeper he went into the River of Life? Had Ezekiel already seen what was there to be seen so far?    “Cause hang on, Zeke. You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.”

Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river.

He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En-gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean. (Ezekiel 47:7-10 The Message)

Abundant Life

The angel led Ezekiel back to the river bank where he could actually stop long enough to look around him. What did the prophet see?

He looked at the river banks. He saw LIFE. Abundant life. Trees flourished wherever he looked. Everything was green and fresh.

He looked at the river itself. He saw LIFE. Abundant life. Fish flourished. Not just a few, but in huge numbers. So many fish that the fishermen were able to work shoulder to shoulder and everyone could catch enough. No shortages where the river flowed.

I find this particular bit of the passage especially interesting.

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“This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh.”

How many of us feel like sometimes we are living in a sea of stagnant water? I’m sure we all have felt like that at some point in time. Perhaps some of us have been existing in those stagnant waters  for quite some time.

The thing I find exciting is that when God’s River of Life touches those stagnant waters, it brings freshness. It brings life. Not just a little life. Abundant life. Life without limit. Life that you could never imagine when in the stagnant water.

Where the river flows, life abounds.

When Life's Not Abundant
Now here’s the thing. God’s River of Life is there and available for all who believe in Him and are trusting in Him. Maybe you don’t feel like you are living in that fresh, abundant place at this point in your life. Why might that be?

I can think of at least two reasons.

1. When we are not experiencing a feeling of abundant life, maybe we are holding a part of ourselves back and not allowing God to touch it.

“No God. That’s mine. I don’t want you to mess with this particular thing in my life. You can touch and bless everything else, but please…just leave this alone.”

2. The second reason…Well, we will look at the second reason in the next post. Just a bit of a clue here. It may not have anything at all to do with us doing something wrong. (Just in case you are thinking I am trying to lay a guilt trip on my readers.)

Time for Reflection

• For now, why not take some time to thank God for ways He is bringing abundant life to you.

• Ask Him to touch areas of your life that are stagnant with His River of Life.

• If there is some area of your life that you have been holing back from Him, why not open that area up to His River of Life today?

Get Off the River Bank

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In my last post, we left the prophet Ezekiel in his vision, standing outside the Temple. An angel had been giving Ezekiel a detailed tour of the Temple and everything in it prior to this point. 
 
Ezekiel stood watching water pouring out from the Temple. It was the start of a river.  

He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through. 

(Ezekiel 47:3-5)

I’ve read a few commentaries on this passage, and I know that some interpret this passage to refer to God’s increasingly powerful work through the ages. I am sure that is correct. When I read the passage, though, I see another application that, I believe, is consistent with Scripture as a whole.

The angel takes out a great big measuring tape and measures out a distance of fifteen hundred feet. For my friends in parts of the world that don’t use feet and inches, that would be a bit short half a kilometer. The water is ankle deep there. The angel leads Ezekiel into that ankle-deep water.

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• In ankle-deep water, it isn’t too hard to keep your balance. You can splash and play a bit. The current isn’t so strong there that a person might be swept away. The ankle-wader is still fairly much in control over where he or she is going.
• The angel didn’t stop there, though. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet and led the prophet through water that was knee deep.
• In knee deep water, the current can be felt a bit more strongly. It takes a bit more strength and balance to keep walking. But basically, a person can still walk in knee-deep water.
• Then the angel measured off another fifteen hundred feet into water that was waist deep. Ezekiel followed him.
• In waist deep water, a person’s body is half underwater. The current pulls strongly. At this depth, the river-walker may intend to go one way, but the force of the current pushes in a different direction. If the walker insists on his own direction, he probably won’t accomplish that entirely. Depending on the strength of the current, he probably won’t be able to accomplish it at all.
• The angel then measured off another fifteen hundred feet. Ezekiel found himself in water that was over his head. It was deep enough to swim in.

River-Swimming Story
Have you ever tried to swim in a river? Back in 1989-1990, I spent a school year in Papua New Guinea teaching at a school for the children of missionaries. During the Easter holidays, I visited the village where the parents of one of my students served. This village was located on the banks of a river in a jungle lowland area. It was the next-to-the last village along this river.

A large tree had fallen into the swiftly-moving river. The local children, the MK’s…and this visiting teacher…had a great time swimming in this river. We were all glad for the long sturdy rope tied at one end to the tree. The other end floated off downstream.
We took turns jumping off the tree into the river, then swam with all our might toward the rope. We grabbed the rope and hand-over-hand pulled ourselves back to the tree. Without that rope, the current would have swept us downstream.

Invitation to Go Deeper
As I look at this passage in Ezekiel, I see an invitation to us to go deeper into God’s river of life. Let’s move beyond the shallow water. The shallows are good, and can be enjoyable, but the deeper water, takes us places where God works mightily.

When swimming in that river in Papua New Guinea, you didn’t want to just let yourself be carried away by the current. If a person got carried away there, it could result in disaster. We can entrust ourselves to God’s life-giving current, and expect amazing things to happen.

Next time, we’ll look at some of the things that happen in places where the river of live flows.

Time for Reflection

• Consider your own life and relationship with God. How deep are you? Ankle-deep? Knee-deep? Waist-deep? Swimming in the current?
• If you are wading in “shallow water”, what is holding you back from following God deeper into His river?

You Want Me To Do WHAT?!?

She looks like I felt.
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Have you ever been asked to do something on the spur of the moment for which you were totally unprepared? I recall one such incident that happened probably about seventeen or so years ago. (I must be getting old. Time kind of runs together.)

I had lived in Bali, Indonesia, for two or three years at the time. The International church I attended regularly met in the evening, so I often visited a different church in the morning.

On the morning this incident happened, I had ridden my bicycle for about forty-five minutes in the heat of a tropical morning. I arrived at the church all hot and sweaty.

This congregation did not have a regular pastor at that time, so speakers were arranged on a roster basis. When I arrived, Ibu Kade, the dear lady who was responsible for arranging for speakers, met me in the parking lot all frantic.

“Julie, Julie, I have a big problem,” she said. “The person I had scheduled to speak today got his dates wrong. He thinks I scheduled him for next Sunday. He can’t come today, so we don’t have anyone to bring the message. So Julie, could you do it?”

"You want me to do WHAT?" I thought. I probably said something more like, Um…um…ummm. I’ve never done that before…ever. I mean, I’ve talked about work on the mission field…maybe for five minutes…but this…and I don’t have anything prepared.”

“But Julie, we don’t have anyone else. Could you please help us?”

Wow! That was a big step for me. It never occurred to me that I might be asked to do something like this. Give a testimony, yes. Share briefly about my work in Bali...sure. But this really threw me, I have to admit.

But the need was there. The need was obvious. So with a fervent, “Lord, help!” I agreed.

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Thankfully, in my devotional reading the night before, I had read Ezekiel 47. In that chapter, verses 1-12 especially stood out to me. This passage was about Ezekiel’s vision in which the life-giving river that flowed out of the Temple.

A number of points in that vision really spoke to me…and incidentally…gave me a pretty decent outline for an impromptu message that Sunday morning.

Over the next several posts, I’d like to share some of those points with you. I hope you’ll join me for this short series as we explore this river, what it does, and what God wants to to in us and through us as we travel this life-giving river with Him.

Time for Reflection

Until next time, why not pick up your Bible and read Ezekiel 47:1-12 for yourself. Whatever else you might read, come back to these twelve verses. Marinate in them, and ask God to show you what He has for you in this passage.