Advent Readings Day 12

Reading: Isaiah 12

“‘Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.’ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.In that day you will say: ‘Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.’”

Water is easy to take advantage of, until it is in short supply.  In the area where we live we have water shortages.  Virtually every day our water is turned off by the city for at least 8 hours and at times it can be out for 2 weeks.  No flushing.  No showers.  Washing dishes in a bucket.  Little hand washing and cleaning.  Our lives are filled with the frustration of going to the faucet to wash hands or having undressed and being ready to turn on the shower only to find out that there is no water at all.  Without water, life becomes much more difficult.

In today’s passage Isaiah again turns us to consider The Messiah who is coming.   He uses the example of water and writes, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”   We see an image of a well from which there comes living water.   A well that has an abundant supply into which one can dip a bucket and draw a kind of water that brings wholeness.  His image even includes a people filled with joy as they approach the well to draw the water.

This is what Jesus’ coming means.  You and I have the well of salvation that we can approach with joy – drinking up the living water that satisfies.  There is an abundant supply of water – it is not going to dry up or get turned off.  We approach this well – extended to us fully by grace as a free gift – and we drink the waters of wholeness deep into us.  Jesus’ gift of salvation to us.

So, if this well is so good, why is it tempting for us to try drinking from other wells, too?  If this is the deep well of salvation that we come to in joy, why do we begin to look to other wells to make us complete?  Why do we turn to materialism or success or prosperity or to trying to earn our way to God’s favor?

The well is deep and Jesus is the only source of life.  He will not dry up.  We can put our full trust in Him to satisfy.

Every minute of every day we get the privilege of stepping up to the well of salvation and drinking deep.   We get the privilege of knowing Jesus and becoming more whole as He intends us to become.  We get to exclude other sources of water that seem like good water yet that don’t satisfy, in favor of the water from the well of salvation.

The Good News is that Jesus, The Living Water, The Well of Salvation,  is here for all who will come.  All who are thirsty are invited to come with joy to The Well and to drink deep.  It isn’t going to dry up nor be turned off.  That’s Good News.