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Ocean
‘Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water’ Hebrews 10:22
How much thought
we give to the water that we drink, I suppose, depends upon where
in the world we are, and how freely available is a safe supply of
potable water. It is difficult to put ourselves in the place of
those who have nothing, or indeed everything.
For a substance that has no colour, odour or taste and for most
people in the developed world is always to hand, it is an often
forgotten but salient thought that there are no living things in
this world that can survive without water.
Those who live near to the ocean know only too well that within
waters which at times seem so calm and inviting lies the potential
for destruction. Hurricanes can cause tidal waves, earthquakes generate
tsunamis; both bringing misery and death.
Ninety-seven percent of the Earth's water is contained within the
oceans, and is too salty to drink. But evaporation is taking place
constantly which takes this salty water, leaves behind the salt,
and forms into clouds that are blown by the wind and deposited as
rainwater onto farmland, irrigating fields and sustaining human
life.
There is a story told of a scientist who developed a wonderful space
saving dehydrated water tablet, but then couldn’t think what
he could dissolve it in… A silly tale, but it serves to remind
us that within our bodies at any one moment are a host of minerals,
nutrients and chemicals dissolved in water and being conveyed silently
through blood vessels and tissues, keeping us alive and functioning.
If we are ill and in hospital, water allows antibiotics and other
life-saving substances to be given and absorbed.
Water has other fascinating properties. As well as being chemically
inert and a superb solvent, it has a high boiling and freezing point
which allows humans to live in sometimes quite harsh conditions.
Because of its surface tension properties water in plants can work
against the force of gravity and flow upward from root to shoot
within the smallest plant and tallest tree.
In Biblical times the People of Israel knew well that water was
a valuable commodity. Imagine if you can their wanderings through
the wilderness for forty years and their inevitable dependence upon
God to provide for their needs.
Several of the Old Testament prophets, including Elijah and Jeremiah
considered drought and the threat of drought as evidence of God’s
punishment on the people’s disobedience.
‘1 This is the word of the LORD to Jeremiah concerning
the drought: 2Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the
land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem. 3 The nobles send their
servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They
return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover
their heads.’ Jeremiah 14
Conversely rainfall is a sign of God's favour and goodness.
‘17When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none,
and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in
high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: 18I will
make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of
water.’ Isaiah 41:17-18
The provision of water was and is important, but the Bible deals
not only with the physical but also with the spiritual condition
of mankind, and when we turn to the pages of the New Testament we
find deeper spiritual symbolism in the use of the word ‘water’
‘13 Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks this water will
be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will
never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a
spring of water welling up to eternal life.’
John 14
There are also references to the cleansing qualities of water (the
spiritual equivalent of washing ourselves clean)
22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty
conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water’ Hebrews
10
Are you feeling a little more exited about water? Can you stand
at the oceans edge and begin to appreciate the awesome power that
lies in front of you, and the wonderful way in which the Creator
distributes that water throughout the world? Look up at the clouds.
Can you begin to imagine a more efficient way of bringing purified
water to the crops growing in fertile fields behind you?
Can you then make the jump and begin to look at water with spiritual
eyes? We rely on the rain to sustain our crops as they grow, bring
goodness to every part of a plant or tree; to provide us with the
means of quenching our thirst, clean and refresh our bodies and
to be literally at the very centre of all that we are. Without water
we are physically dead within such a short space of time.
For lives that are dried up spiritually, thirsty for the experience
of God’s presence in their lives, He comes like a gentle rain
and entering in, like sap flowing upward in a tree feeds heart,
mind and soul. Those who feel unclean are washed and purified, the
tired refreshed and all who open themselves in such a way will know
the truth of Jesus’ words in their lives.
‘…, the water I give him will become in him a spring
of water welling up to eternal life.’
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