In the Christian Science Bible Lesson July 9, 2012 Issue

The water of life

For the lesson titled "Life" from July 9-15, 2012

Deanna Mummert—Wilmington, North Carolina

As I was surfing the Internet recently, I read an anonymous quote, “Life is like a flowing river, full of opportunities; it’s up to you whether you take a bucket or a spoon from it.” God is the source of life, and “Life” is the subject of this week’s Bible Lesson, so life can be viewed as a river expressing God’s grace, always flowing into our experience. God’s promise that He “will not forsake” us and “will open rivers” for us, is realized in the stories in this Lesson (Isaiah 41:17, 18, Responsive Reading).

The stories remind us of the rivers metaphorically flowing from the city of God as described in the Bible and defined by Mary Baker Eddy. During the Babylonian exile, after the fall of Jerusalem (586 BC), the Israelites were frustrated, tired, thirsty, and hungry. They continually questioned God’s existence, much the way we might feel in the midst of war, losing a job, or experiencing an unjust situation. Isaiah reassured the Israelites of God’s presence, appearing to view life as Mrs. Eddy did in her definition of the Pison River, “The love of the good and beautiful, and their immortality” (Science and Health, p. 593, citation 5). Isaiah replaced the images of hunger, thirst, and poverty with God as living water, bursting forth into the “high places . . . the wilderness . . . and the dry land” (Responsive Reading). This image of boundless flowing water invites the reader to better understand God’s grace. 

The stories remind us of the rivers metaphorically flowing from the city of God.