Dec. 4 – Thoughts on Ezek. 47-48 & 1 John 3

God is Pro-Life!  Yes, “them’s fightin’ words” in today’s culture, but I’m not stoking an abortion argument here.  I mean it in it’s truest form.  And I’m also reflecting on this beautiful image from the 47th chapter of Ezekiel.  There we find a river running east out of the temple.  From the threshold of the temple, it is merely a trickle, but as it flows east, it deepens from a trickle, to ankle deep, to knee, to waist, and finally to a river “no one could cross”.  But it’s not the miraculous flow of water that Ezekiel is pointing out.  It is the Life that flows with it!

Along the river, trees bloom in the wilderness and bear fruit every year.  At the end of the river, it flows into the Great Salt Sea, aka the Dead Sea.  This body of water has rivers and streams flowing into it, but nothing flowing out.  The only way water escapes is through evaporation.  And when salt water evaporates, it leaves it’s salt behind.  And nothing can live in that level of saltiness, hence the name Dead Sea.  Yet this sea, famous the world over for it’s lack of life, will have as many fish as the Mediterranean Sea, which is known for it’s plethora of sea life.  Because of this river flowing from the Temple, the dead will gain new life and all life will flourish.

This river flows not from the temple but from the God who dwells there.  From Him, streams of living water flow and bring life everywhere.  Death is no match for that which flows from God.  In fact, this is the very gospel in a nutshell – death has lost the battle and life in Christ has won for all eternity.  This is our message and this has to dominate our lives in every way.  As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to value, pursue, and fight for life everywhere we go because He does.