Spring up a well in my soul

Remember the old song? "There's a river of life flowing out of me, made the lame to walk and the blind to see....Spring up a well in my soul, spring up a well, and make me whole, spring up a well and give to me, that life abundantly!" I sang it in Sunday School, back when I lived in Cali still. It was one of my favorites. How easy it is to forget the things we used to love.

In Ezekiel 47, an angel is showing Ezekiel the plans for the temple and he brings Ezekiel to a place where a river is bubbling up from beside the alter. It flows outside the temple and onward to the Dead Sea, passing all the dry and barren land of Israel, bringing life in its wake. And the angel spoke and told Ezekiel that the Dead Sea's waters would be healed, that fishermen would fish there and life would come from it. That life was the life from the river that flowed from the temple. From beside the alter... "Rivers of life" sounds familiar and my study Bible connected it to Jesus' speech about rivers of life springing up from a believer's heart. How appropriate that those rivers would bring healing, but not just any healing; the only healing that comes from being beside an alter and surrendering. That is where rivers of living water come from and those rivers of living water are what we share with any passing stranger. Drink deeply, there is life in abundance in Christ.