Here is a devotion based on the lectionary readings for Tuesday, March 17, 2026 (Fourth Week of Lent)
When the Water Begins to Flow
Ezekiel 47:1–9, 12
Psalm 46:1-11
John 5:1–16
Devotion: When the Water Begins to Flow
In Ezekiel 47, the prophet sees a vision of water flowing from the temple. At first it is just a trickle, but as it moves outward it becomes deeper and deeper until it turns into a river that brings life everywhere it goes. Trees grow along its banks, and their leaves bring healing.
Centuries later in John 5, Jesus meets a man who has been disabled for thirty-eight years. The man sits beside a pool, hoping someone will help him into the water when it stirs so he can be healed. But he has no one to help him.
Instead of putting him into the pool, Jesus simply says:
“Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately, the man is healed.
Both passages reveal something powerful: God’s healing life flows outward to people who feel stuck, forgotten, or helpless.
The man at the pool believed his only hope was the water. But the true source of healing was standing right in front of him. In the same way, we often look for solutions everywhere else—circumstances, people, or opportunities—when Christ himself is already present and able to restore us.
Lent is a season that reminds us to step into the river of God’s life. What begins as a small trickle—prayer, repentance, surrender—can become a deep current that changes everything.
Where God’s presence flows, life returns.
🙏 Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You see the places where I feel stuck, tired, or unable to move forward.
Speak your word of healing over my life.
Help me trust that your grace is already flowing toward me.
Lead me deeper into the life you give.
Amen.