The water of life …..
In Exodus ch14 we read of the awful moment when the escaping Israelites realised that the armies of Pharoah were hot on their heels, coming up fast behind them in their chariots. Nowhere to go, trapped on the banks of the Red Sea, an uncrossable barrier before them. They panicked and blamed Moses and God. What could He do?
We know the answer in this well known story. God sent a vast wind that pushed back the waters giving the Israelites a dry pathway across to the other side and they escaped to journey on to a new life.
Water, an impassable barrier but, at the same time a fundamental source of life.
Just recently, it has been possible to actually see, at an atomic level, water as a site of constant creation as minute water bubbles are formed. The oxygen we need to breathe created from unbreathable water. Water split open to sustain life on Earth (photosynthesis).
We live in a world that is not a passive backdrop, but a dynamic, fragile ecosystem—one we are tied to and one that is intimately sustained by the breath of its Creator. The Holy Spirit is often referred to as the breath of God who moved across the waters at creation, who was a strong wind at Pentecost when the church was formed.
As we sang in our closing hymn written by Helen Kennedy,
“Spirit of God, come dwell within me. Open my heart, oh, come set me free. Fill me with love for Jesus, my Lord, come fill me with living water.
