Water not only sustains our bodies and communities, but also is an integral part of our spiritual lives. The Bible is rich with images of water that symbolize new life, cleansing, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. Check out Reta Halteman Finger’s Bible study "A River Runs Through It" (Sojourners, November 2013) to trace how water flows throughout the New Testament.
To see just a few of the ways that water trickles and gushes through God’s word, reflect on these 10 passages:
2 Samuel 14:14
"We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up.”
Psalm 65:9
"You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.”
Proverbs 25:25
“Like cold water to a thirsty soul,so is good news from a far country.”
Isaiah 33:15-16
“Those who walk righteously and speak uprightly,
who despise the gain of oppression,
who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it,
who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed
and shut their eyes from looking on evil,
they will live on the heights;
their refuge will be the fortresses of rocks;
their food will be supplied, their water assured.”
Jeremiah 2:13
“For my people have committed two evils:they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.”
Amos 5:24
“But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”
Mark 9:41
“For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”
John 4:13-14
“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’”
Hebrews 10:22
“Let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Revelation 22:1-2
“Then the angelshowed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lambthrough the middle of the street of the city.”
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