Rivers of Life

Out of the top 10 dead rivers in the world, Manila Philippines has 2 of them. That’s 10 rivers that produce NO LIFE, contain no fish, oxygen, bacteria, and plants.  Nothing.  Dead.  Imagine, a water source with no purpose but to be death to all who use it.  Yet millions of people live within feet of its toxic banks.  Used as drinking water, laundry, toilet, garbage disposal and a pool, these people don’t listen to the advice of ecologists, scientists and government officials and continue to use this cesspool of filth as their life line.  Although we may not live in the squatter village that lines the bank of the Marilou or Pasig Rivers in Manila, what river have we planted ourselves close enough to that we are drawing our sustenance from? 

From the top of the bridge high above the grey murky death pool, there appears to be small plants growing on the shore of the river.  A closer look perhaps would reveal that although this greenery appears healthy, the inside is toxic, dead, empty and void of any life giving qualities.  It’s roots, dry, shrivelled and unable to withstand the impending floods of July’s rainy/ typhoon season.  If we were to dig up our roots, would they appear the same? If we were to look beneath the soil, dig deep, would we find that the roots we’ve tried so hard to keep buried were just as dead, brittle and unable to breed life? Or, when the rains came, would we find that our roots had been so nurtured and watered and planted deep that we could withstand the flood and persevere until the rains receded?  You see, it depends on where you’re planted.

Are you “like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.  Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” Psalm 3:1

Or are you “like a great tree with withered leaves, like a garden without water” Isaiah 1:30

Am I rooted next to a life giving water source that brings life and nourishment and hope to my soul?  Or is my tree great and mighty on the outside but planted near toxic ‘nourishment’, slowly starving my roots and emptying my veins of life and fruitfulness?  Sadly, most of the people living beside the Pasig River don’t know that it is toxic.  Yet some still chose to take the risk.  Here’s MY choice:  Do I stand on top of the bridge and yell for these unsuspecting souls to get out of the water because it’s killing them, afraid that I might be contaminated if I get too close?  Or do I go down to the water’s edge, give them a hand and show them a pool of living water that won’t drown them when the rains come, and will give them everything they need to not only SURVIVE, but THRIVE?    I too, need to be choosing the right water source.  I too, need to be daily making the choice to root deep in the Word.  I too, need to live in ‘THRIVE MODE’, not ‘SURVIVE MODE’!

I’ve walked among the squatter housing.  I’ve touched the faces of the children; I’ve wiped tears of mothers, high-fived young boys.  I’ve breathed deeply the toxic air that fills their homes.  I’ve looked into the eyes of a little girl who pulled on the hem of my shirts and pointed to her mouth.  Hungry, thirsty and in desperate need of food and water for herself and her young siblings.  In this moment, as tears stained my face, I couldn’t deny the presence of the Father.   In our desperation do we seek for the presence of the only one who can satisfy our needs?  He is, the life giving water. “But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  John 4:14

Root deep, root strong, root beside LIVING water. Healthy roots produce healthy plants, healthy plants withstand the storm.  Healthy plants breathe life, nourishment, provide a resting place and shelter for others.  The world needs strong, healthy trees.  Bring them to the waters edge…

“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35

Tara W.