AN apt title for our thoughts this week is Life-giving water.

In Chapter 47 the prophet Ezekiel tells us that "Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river' (verse 12). You do not have to be a horticultural expert to know that without water, nothing grows. Water - the most basic of commodities with no taste, no colour, no smell - is essential for life.

Throughout Scripture, water is used as a symbol of renewal and eternal life. Jesus stirred the interest and created a thirst in the woman at the well when he spoke about living water'. He made the amazing claim that believers who put their trust in him will have streams of living water flowing from their lives (John 7:38). The deeper the water, it seems, the deeper the renewal.

The prophet Ezekiel is given an amazing vision when he is brought to the temple and sees a river flowing out from beneath it. The river is a symbol of life from God and the blessings that flow from his present. It is a gentle, safe, deep river that expands as it flows. When Ezekiel first steps into the river the water is ankle-deep. Then it becomes knee-deep, then up to his waist and finally so deep that it is over his head and he has to swim.

The water flows to change the salty water of the Dead Sea into fresh water teaming with fish. Along the banks of the river are fruit-bearing trees whose roots go down deep and draw u nourishment from the water. "Where the river flows everything will live" (verse 9).

This image of the river of life presents us with a choice. Do we plunge into the life giving water or do we prefer to walk up and down the banks of the river, dipping our toes into the water now and again, observing the things of God from a safe distance?

This week's thought: It takes a good many spadefuls of earth to bury the truth.