For about 30 years my in-laws had a place in Hinsdale County, Colorado that they called “Quiet Valley.” It was a gorgeous setting at over 10,000 feet with a view of the peak known as “Baldy Cinco.”  Just a few miles from their place was a viewing area on the side of the highway where you could see the peak where the Rio Grande originates.  That peak is just east of Silverton. From there it flows down through Creede and Southfork, and then down through New Mexico to El Paso, where it then is the boundary between Texas and Mexico until it hits the Gulf of Mexico just south of Boca Chica beach. (By the way, the people of Mexico call the river the Rio Bravo).

I have seen this “Big River” in near its origins in Colorado and watched people fishing for trout in it. I have driven over it in New Mexico many times. I’ve seen it in El Paso, most recently in the Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park (a fabulous sight to behold), at Del Rio and Matamoras and even where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. It is very different in all those locations.

Rivers are mentioned all through Scripture, beginning with the creation account.

Genesis 2:10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.

When God’s people entered the promised land after their time in the wilderness, it was by crossing the Jordan River, the same one in which Jesus would later be baptized. And

John’s vision of heaven also included rivers.

Revelation 22:1–2 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 ² 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.

Both the river and the tree mentioned by John were mentioned in the Creation account. In heaven we will have continual access to the water of life and the tree of life. By telling us that the river and tree of life are in heaven, John tells us that the end of this world will be like the beginning, but better.

In Psalm 46 we hear about a river in the city of God.

Psalm 46:4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.

Did you know that Jerusalem doesn’t have a river, like so many of the great cities of ancient times? So the Psalmist is not speaking of the earthly Jerusalem, but the heavenly one when He says “the city of God.” That ties in to what John wrote in the Revelation.

I’ve seen lots of other rivers here on earth, but I am looking forward to seeing the one that flows from the throne of God. I know I will do so because Jesus earned my forgiveness, the Holy Spirit led me to faith, and I am assured of salvation each time I remember my baptism and receive the Lord’s Supper.