The River

Revelation 22:1-5

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2022%3A1-5&version=ESV;NLT

 

Was there a river running through the town where you grew up? You’ve probably never heard of a small town called St. Louis, Michigan. That’s where I grew up. Winding

through the town is the Pine River. It was there before we arrived. It was there after we moved away. It’s still there. Every day, it wound around people’s lives.

 

When I lived there, the river took you past everything that seemed important. For instance, Westgate subdivision that included the grade school where I attended. The Chemical plant that provided hundreds of jobs including my Dad’s. The power plant with its turbines generating electrical power.

 

The river flowed past the edge of Main Street where people shopped at the IGA or A&P and at the dime store. Then, just before meandering out of town, the river ran right behind St. Louis High School; home of the Sharks. For generations, SLHS prepared

young people for the rest of their lives.

 

For myself, I lived in a house which was located on a hill that overlooked the river. The river was a place for fun for me. It provided frogs and turtles to hunt. It provided ice skating where I pretended to be an Olympic speed skater.

 

The river provided for the lives of the people of St. Louis. Where it started or ended, I didn’t know. It was just there; always there.

 

Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. ² It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.         NLT

 

What river runs through your life? The Pine River didn’t look like much. It certainly didn’t look anything like the River of Life. But it did bring life to the people of St. Louis.

 

The River of Life brings hope and healing. It brings eternal life. It brings Living Water. It brings light. It brings the presence of the Lamb of God. It is the presence. For the people who live by the River, their lives are transformed.