Wednesday, December 9

Isaiah 12:2-6
This week’s readings are so full of joy. There’s singing and exulting and praising and shouting and good old-fashioned rejoicing. God’s people are bursting with celebration! And their celebrating comes because of this remarkable fact: God has become their salvation.

What does this salvation look like? This salvation is like water: life-giving, life-sustaining water. This water comes from wells dug deep down to the water table. There’s no risk of them ever drying up.

I’ve never used a well, so I don’t know firsthand the joy of hauling up bucket after bucket of water, feeling more restored as each pail surfaces. But I do know what it’s like to be so parched I can’t concentrate, and then to round the corner and see—a silver beacon before me—a drinking fountain. And I have been a child and whiled away a whole afternoon prancing through a sprinkler whose water sprayed sky-high.

The water in this passage is no ordinary water. This is living water, and this abundant living water makes me burst into laughter. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation!

God’s living water is free for the taking. There’s no need to be stingy; I don’t have to store it up for tomorrow as if salvation could be in short supply. There’s no one standing behind me, saying, “Save some for the fishies!” Nope. Salvation is abundant. I can keep returning.

Prayer: Jesus Christ, you are the living water. I am grateful for your salvation, so plentiful it overflows. Thank you for never turning me away, for not limiting the amount of you I can take. I bask in your presence today.