God’s Key to Spiritual Restoration

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters (Genesis 2:8–10).

Streams of life are found at the heart of what God does.

A river flowed from Eden and watered the garden before spreading to the four corners of ancient civilization. The river brought life and blessing, watering the dry earth. Throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, streams, rivers, and wells are found alongside many moments of deliverance or blessing; they serve as reminders of the life that the Creator brings. In Ezekiel’s vision of the temple (see Ezek. 47) he saw a river coming out of the temple and bringing life and refreshing to even the Dead Sea, the most lifeless place on earth. John the Revelator saw a “river of the water of life … flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1–2).

We are meant to inhabit and occupy the earth and be like rivers of life wherever we are established. We are to bring blessing, life, and refreshment to the land around us. Even when we are in exile, strangers in a foreign land, we are to bring Heaven’s life to earth. Like Israel in Babylon or Egypt, we are a different people, with a different purpose and a different source. We are to be like a river of life in Babylon, bringing the blessing of the living water.

Jesus said: “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart’” (John 7:38 NLT).

Let the living water bring refreshment and life wherever you go. Everywhere is spiritually dry and barren without the water of life; it needs irrigation. Cultivate the Garden of Eden wherever you are; bring Heaven to earth.

Receive

Take time in Scripture; read Isaiah 12:3, 35:6, 44:3, 55:1; 58:11; Ezekiel 47:9; John 7; and John 4:14. Are you dry and thirsty? Get refreshed, and then begin to water the land around you. Where can you bring blessing and life? What is dry and in need of a river?