Grace Lutheran Church

Running Water”

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19 ESV)

During February and March this winter, prolonged extremely cold temperatures made Edmonton (and most of Canada) into a hard, frozen place. Though there was plenty of water around, but it was all locked up in the ice and snow, and the air was very dry. As much as the cold bothers me, it’s the lack of moisture that really causes me pain, making my fingertips crack, my skin itch, and my throat feel like a desert. My guitar neck warps in the low humidity, the organ starts making funny sounds, all because of a lack of water!

Now that spring is here, the water is beginning to run again. What was locked away in blocks of ice is being freed, flowing once again into streams that carve channels in the ice, and begin to seep into frozen ground, and eventually bring life back to growing things.

During the season of lent we’ve been contemplating Jesus’ promise to make streams of living water flow from the hearts of those who believe in him. It’s such a powerful metaphor, especially when we consider how we can become frozen up in our lives of faith. Pain sometimes immobilizes us, and fear threatens to freeze us in place. But the living water of God’s love carves a channel in our hearts, thawing us out, bringing new life.

At Easter we will celebrate God’s victory over sin and death, once and for all! What hope this message continues to be in our lives of struggle. Like a mighty river of tropical warm water, the message of God’s love floods our lives, cleansing us, warming us, bringing us rest and relief, setting us in motion again as we are swept up in the stream.

May the living water, of which Jesus spoke, fill you with life this season! And may the new things that God has promised spring up, eternally!

With love and thanksgiving,

Pastor Curtis