River of Love

5 min read

8 Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.

10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

— Psalm 46:8-11

Humanity doesn’t know how to be still.

Being still doesn’t mean doing nothing. God has created this earth and all that lives in it. And He created humanity and placed in us His image to have dominion and authority over the earth so that we might fill the earth with His glory in Jesus’s name through God-fearing, God-honoring, God-worshiping, God-loving communities and families—the church.

Being still means to flow with the River of Love that springs from the city of God (verse 4). The Current is the Spirit of God, and the Water is the Son of God, the Living Word, the Author of our Salvation, the Perfecter of our faith. And the River of Love flows according to God’s sovereign purpose and plan to reconcile the world to Himself in Christ Jesus.

There is much life to be enjoyed when we are swimming with the Current of that River.

But humanity is always trying to swim against the Current to reach a shore that is not meant for us. Or we are always trying to swim upstream to change the course of the River.

When the Day of the Lord comes, all of our frantic swimming against the Current will be revealed for what it is—a deception that does nothing but wear us out to death.

At the end of the River are two Lakes. The dead are deposited into the Lake of Fire. The living continue to swim with the Current into the Lake of Eternal Life.

God will be exalted among the nations and in the earth.

I must never forget the lesson of COVID. I wonder how many wars were being fought during that time. Who knows? The only news we heard was about COVID.

But can you imagine if nations were warring during the COVID years? How futile and ridiculous it would look in the backdrop of a pandemic.

God brought desolation upon the earth and made wars cease. And now that COVID is behind us …

Humanity doesn’t know how to be still.

But as for me, I drink in the Water of the River of Love, and the Water gives me life to swim with the Current to the Lake of Eternal Life.

Father, I confess that sometimes I try to swim against the current of Your sovereign love, mercy, and grace. And so I thank You for opening my eyes to see the futility of human striving against Your sovereign will. Thank You for opening my mouth to drink in the truth of Your gospel. Help me to swim with joy and passion. Help me to help others to swim with the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’s name. Amen.