Casting Crowns - The Very Next ThingSample

MAKE ME A RIVER

Live for the Outlets

Several years ago, I visited Israel and traveled to both the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Both are large bodies of water fed by fresh water. The Sea of Galilee in the northern part of the country is vibrant and full of life and for centuries has provided a living for fishermen like the disciples Peter, James, and John. The Dead Sea, positioned to the east and southeast of Jerusalem, has its name for a reason. It is so salty that not much can live in it and a human being can float with little effort.

The freshwater Jordan River flows south from the Sea of Galilee and straight into the Dead Sea. So why is the Sea of Galilee so vibrant and the Dead Sea so dead? Why is it roughly nine times saltier than Earth’s oceans? Because the Sea of Galilee has outlets whereas the Dead Sea has none. Water flows into the Dead Sea, but nothing flows out. The water settles into a lake that, at 1,407 feet below sea level, is the planet’s lowest elevation point on land.

We should pray for God to make us a river, for his living water to flow through us and impact others for his glory. Jesus alone is the source of our strength and hope, and Romans 5:5 gives us the incredible promise that “hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

This same Holy Spirit is the living water that flows through us, spilling out God’s love as it overflows from his heart through our hearts and into others’ lives. One verse after Jesus claims to be the source of eternal living water, John explains what he meant: “Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.” (John 7:39)

The point of doing the very next thing for Jesus is not to dream up ideas on our own. Rather, we are to stay intimately connected to the Lord by spending time in Scripture, prayer, and worship, and to live with an eternal perspective. That means keeping our hearts and minds on things above, where our destination is, and not on earthly, fleshly pursuits. Then we will see where Jesus is at work and where people are low and hurting as surely as water finds its way to the lowest point.