I love this image; I think it’s beautiful. Jesus invites ones who are thirsty to come and ones who believe in him to drink. They are invited to take in his Son-of-God goodness that quenches thirsty lips and parched souls. In turn, out of their hearts flow rivers of living water.
Sometimes, I think that the water flowing out of us tends to get a little polluted. Greed, judgment and hate are a few of the things inside of us that can mar the purity of what flows out of us.
The good news is that the gospel is an excellent filtration system! Remembering that “God so loved the world that [God] sent his only Son…not…to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16,17) can cleanse the water that flows through us. Remembering that every person is a beloved child of God and our call is to love one another without judgment is a reliable way to bring the living back into our water. May we all be ones through whom the love of God flows in generous rivers and endless streams.
Fill my heart with your grace, O God, that your living water flows through me into a world thirsty for justice. Amen. — JM