SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 47
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. [Ezekiel 47:5]
I love this reading: what begins as a trickle grows ankle-deep, then knee-deep, and now deep enough to swim in.
The water from the temple represents the Spirit of life, bringing life wherever He goes.
This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea…so where the river flows everything will live. [Ezekiel 47:8-9]

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. [John 7:37-39]
The festival here is the Feast of Tabernacles; it was customary at this feast for the priest to pour water on the altar to symbolize God’s provision of life and blessing.
Here Jesus describes the Spirit of life as flowing from within them, and of course we know that we are the temple (dwelling place) of God and our heart is like an altar.
The gift of the Spirit of God is the abundant blessing of life and power and grace, which is too broad to cross, deep enough to swim in.
There is so much blessing that it bubbles out in abundance.

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing. [Ezekiel 47:12]
This verse is an anticipation of the full blessing still to come, when God fully restores the fullness of creation life.
John describes the new heaven and new earth with these words: Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. [Revelation 22:1-2]
We have already now been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ through the Spirit [Ephesians 1:3], and yet no eye has seen nor ear has heard what God still has in store for us [1 Corinthians 2:9]; in other words, we ain’t seen nothing yet!

So how do we respond to a great river of blessing, deep enough to swim in?
DIVE IN!!!

PRAYER:
Lord, why do I refuse to immerse myself in Your free-flowing, abundant love and blessing? Why do I refuse to drink, when I am so thirsty, and You are offering me a drink that will satisfy forever?