HEADWATERS

September 26

Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful." He said, "Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. He went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, "Thus says the LORD, 'I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.' -2 KINGS 2:19-21

The heart is the headwaters of the whole person and what happens in the heart determines the well-being of the rest. You can still see Elisha's Stream across from the mound where ancient Jericho is buried. I have been there several times and remember the crisis once caused when the headwaters became polluted. They carried poison downstream and made the land barren. Elisha purified the headwaters with salt and the stream was restored to fruitfulness.   The purifying of a whole life begins when the heart is cleansed, and pumps wholeness throughout the entire being.  This is true physically. Weak legs and wheezing lungs are the result of a bad heart.   But it is especially true spiritually. When the spiritual heart is bad, strength for good works is sapped, zest is gone and the person is unfruitful. The salt symbolizes the word of God in its purifying work. The more it penetrates to the heart, the headwaters of your life, the purer and more productive your whole life!    TODAY'S FOCUS Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal points at which your life is unfruitful. Find Scriptures relating to that issue and use them as a guide for prayer.