Tues., 10/14/14 Devotion (Ezek. 47:12b)

Today's encouragement comes from Ezekiel 47:12b, where we read these amazing words:

"They [the trees] will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine."

The first part of Ezek., ch. 47, is remarkable--one of my favorite parts of the Bible. The expanse of the New Covenant church, and the spread of the gos-pel of grace are all in view here. Christ dwells in the "sanctuary," (the church). The church, through the Holy Spirit, feeds, nourishes, and heals the entire world—every part of it. And, in time, the "knowledge of the Lord covers the earth, as the waters cover the sea,” (Hab. 2:14).

Let us be thankful that the God of heaven has *not* abandoned His earth, or the people thereon. He has left His colony, the church, here. As the Body of Christ, let us be "feeders" and "healers" of the whole world—through the spread of the gospel of Jesus. Christ Himself is the only “medicine” that can heal sin-sick souls.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Grace continues and increases." --Richard Sibbes, in, "Glorious Freedom"]