Leaving Behind
I've seen a lot of beautiful rivers, streams and creeks. Some are very small, running through a quiet forest. Others are large, meandering through an important city. The moving water is important and vital to the life of a community and a culture. And the water is beautiful to look at. I've seen a lot of beautiful rivers.
But the Jordan River is not one of them.
I've seen the Jordan. I've been in the Jordan several times. There are places along the river where is can be beautiful, but most of it, especially as you go south in modern Israel, is a muddy, brownish mess. It's a contested river. Being the only source of fresh water (until desalinization becomes an effective process), the Jordan River is something everyone wants a part of, needs a part of. And because there are so many people drawing from it, it's smaller than it once was. The Dead Sea, into which it flows, is in danger of disappearing altogether in a few years.
But none of that is what makes the Jordan River significant to people of faith.
There are two images of the Jordan that stand out in Biblical history, two images I hadn't connected until I read something from N. T. Wright that pointed me in that direction. The first is at the end of the Exodus; the Jordan River is what the people have to cross to enter the Promised Land (Joshua 3). It's a barrier, but it's also a reminder of God's provision. When they cross the Jordan, they walk across on dry ground because God (once again) splits the waters. And in doing so, they leave behind, or are supposed to leave behind, once and for all, everything that is associated with Egypt and their slavery there. They are entering the Jordan River to begin a new life.
The second image of the Jordan comes when John the Baptizer is doing what he does: calling people to repentance and baptizing them in the river (Matthew 3). In a sense, he is asking the people to "pass through" the waters of baptism, and the call is to repent. Turn around. Leave behind everything that is associated with your former, sinful life and trust in God's provision.
The Jordan is a place we pass through, leave behind the mess and the muddle of our former lives, and come out ready to begin a new life with God. No wonder the Jordan is sort of muddy!
Sometimes the Jordan in our life looks like a life crisis, or an unexpected change. Sometimes it looks like the battle to beat an addiction or a financial disaster. The good news is that you don't stay in the Jordan, but you do have a choice. You can either turn around and go back to the crisis and the mess and the muddle, or you can go forward and receive the new life God has for you.
Will you pass through the Jordan of your life, leaving behind the sin and the mess, or will you go back to that? The choice is yours. The Jordan is waiting. And it's beautiful after all.
But the Jordan River is not one of them.
I've seen the Jordan. I've been in the Jordan several times. There are places along the river where is can be beautiful, but most of it, especially as you go south in modern Israel, is a muddy, brownish mess. It's a contested river. Being the only source of fresh water (until desalinization becomes an effective process), the Jordan River is something everyone wants a part of, needs a part of. And because there are so many people drawing from it, it's smaller than it once was. The Dead Sea, into which it flows, is in danger of disappearing altogether in a few years.
But none of that is what makes the Jordan River significant to people of faith.
There are two images of the Jordan that stand out in Biblical history, two images I hadn't connected until I read something from N. T. Wright that pointed me in that direction. The first is at the end of the Exodus; the Jordan River is what the people have to cross to enter the Promised Land (Joshua 3). It's a barrier, but it's also a reminder of God's provision. When they cross the Jordan, they walk across on dry ground because God (once again) splits the waters. And in doing so, they leave behind, or are supposed to leave behind, once and for all, everything that is associated with Egypt and their slavery there. They are entering the Jordan River to begin a new life.
The second image of the Jordan comes when John the Baptizer is doing what he does: calling people to repentance and baptizing them in the river (Matthew 3). In a sense, he is asking the people to "pass through" the waters of baptism, and the call is to repent. Turn around. Leave behind everything that is associated with your former, sinful life and trust in God's provision.
The Jordan is a place we pass through, leave behind the mess and the muddle of our former lives, and come out ready to begin a new life with God. No wonder the Jordan is sort of muddy!
Sometimes the Jordan in our life looks like a life crisis, or an unexpected change. Sometimes it looks like the battle to beat an addiction or a financial disaster. The good news is that you don't stay in the Jordan, but you do have a choice. You can either turn around and go back to the crisis and the mess and the muddle, or you can go forward and receive the new life God has for you.
Will you pass through the Jordan of your life, leaving behind the sin and the mess, or will you go back to that? The choice is yours. The Jordan is waiting. And it's beautiful after all.
 |
| One of the pretty places along the Jordan - Yardenit, 2014 |
Comments
Post a Comment