He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found… (Joy to the World)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse (Revelation 22:1-3a).

I grew up in east central Ohio on a farm that bordered the unsullied Tuscarawas River. 120 miles north of us was a river—the Cuyahoga—so sullied that one day a spark from a train actually set it on fire.

Our Tuscarawas flowed with blessings. It generously supplied land and people with clean water. The flora and fauna in its watershed thrived. People fished and floated in it.  

The Cuyahoga flowed with industrial waste. It had been polluted for more than a century. Nothing could thrive in it or near it. No person could drink or bathe in its water or enjoy it in any way.

If I can say our river flowed with blessings, it seems accurate to say the Cuyahoga was cursed—rendered incapable of flourishing.

The inspired authors of Scripture use rivers to clue us in on who Jesus is and what He was born to do.

Humanity was in a desperately polluted—aka cursed—state. They had tried every cooked-up way their selfish selves could think of to get “the good life.” Nothing worked. The ones weary from trying were desperate to have their thirst quenched by pure water, to be washed clean, to flourish—although they had forgotten what that looked like. 

Christ knew what it looked like, though. It looked like Him being born into poverty, leaving zero indication wealth had anything to do with flourishing. 

It looked like Him loving the unlovely, leaving zero indication desirability had anything to do with flourishing. It looked like Him befriending sinners, leaving zero indication performance had anything to do with flourishing. It looked like Him being meek, leaving zero indication human power had anything to do with flourishing.

Jesus flowed like a pristine river into those with weary hearts, washing them clean, quenching their thirst, enabling them to flourish.

I’ve used the past tense here, but Jesus flows in us and through us just as surely in the present and the future. All our collective little creeks can still join into streams. All those streams can join into rivers. Along those rivers can grow trees that produce fruit for nourishment and leaves for the healing of the nations. Far as the curse is found.

Take time to recognize that He comes to make His blessings flow in and through your life, the life of CCC, and the lives of His devoted ones around the world. Then celebrate by singing Joy to the World today. After all, the weary world needs to know.