Singers and dancers alike say, “All of my springs are in you.”
Psalm 87:7
I pray the living Word of God, Christ himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit, reveals to you the beauty and power of this verse of Scripture. It is quite simple, and yet quite profound. It defines the very meaning of what it means to be in Christ and is one of those verses that draws attention to the true uniqueness of what it means to be a Christ follower.
A spring of fresh water was essential for life to people before modern plumbing was invented. Water is a source of life. Water is needed for herds, crops, cooking and drinking. A spring of water was a source of life to nomads and settlers alike. Without water, there is no life. Individuals, families, cities and nations need a water source to survive. To lose one’s source of water would be devastating.
Where is your source of water? Where are your springs? Where do you turn when you need life, strength, encouragement, purpose, meaning, comfort, guidance, wisdom, truth? What, or who, is your source of life? God, through his Son, his Spirit and his Word, invites (maybe better words are call, plead, urge, long) us to find our source in him – and nothing or no one else. To have any other source of life is idolatry in God’s eyes (you shall have no ther gods before me).
In today’s church we are focusing on lots of things: leadership, social justice, music, buildings to name a few. None of those are bad or evil things; they are all necessary. But yet, when I read the Old and New Testaments, none of those things are the focus. We don’t have money problems, we have heart problems. We don’t have attendance issues, we have character issues. The goal of every believer is to be able to say, “all of my springs are in you.” Church leaders should be focusing on where people are drawing water from for life. If our source, our center, our North star is not Christ, then everything we do as believers and churches will miss the mark.
Finding one’s source of life in God is not something that a church can make happen by programming. Every Christ follower must make it their own responsibility to connect with Living Water (Christ). Having said that, churches must not distract people by constantly pulling people away from finding their source in God. Churches and pastors are not the source. The ministry of the church will flow from the heart of the church. The heart of the church is healthy to the degree it finds its source of life in God.
What does “all of my springs are in you” mean in practical, daily life? What does it look like? Well, it looks and feels different for different people, depending on whether you’re a singer or dancer. Here are some questions you might ask yourself as you wrestle in your own heart over this issue:
- How would my walk with God improve if I spent 20 minutes every day in communion with Christ through devotional bible reading and prayer?
- What would happen if you invited Jesus into every situation in your life and asked, “does this please you?”
- Do you consider knowing Christ the priority in your life?
- Are there activities in your life that you will not pray about because you are going to do them whether they are wrong or not?
- If you did not have any communion with Jesus in the next 30 days, would it have any negative impact on how you live your life?
Psalm 87:7 is extremely convicting, yes? Good. It should be. One cannot claim to be a Christ-follower and yet drink water from springs that do not find their source in God. However, there are deeper layers to this verse than conviction. Psalm 87:7 is the path to a meaningful, robust, vintage, joyful, exciting and rewarding walk with Jesus. The life God calls us to is a life where he is our one and only source. That’s the only way all this makes sense.
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters…If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Isaiah 55 and John 7
Something to ink about…