River of Life, Water of Christ,
Wash me of all evil, of sin and of strife.
No matter what I do, no matter how I try,
My flesh will be a burden till the day that I die.
Oh for the waters, for to be there within,
And wash me of the world and the stain of my sin.
Water of God calling my name,
Wash me in the water, wash me of my shame.
My sins are all forgiven by the Blood of the Son,
But when the water cleans me the power of sin it is done.
For the first time in my life my heart will be made clean,
And shines with “God’s Love”, in His glory is its sheen.
There is no cure on earth for the wayward heart of man,
But the river of Life prepares us for the Promised Land.
Wash all the soil of the world away,
River of life how I long for that day.
From head to toe, inside and out,
I’ll be cleaned by God and His praise I will shout.
A new body I’ll inhabit, come one fine day soon,
With a clean soul inside I will sing a brand new tune.
A song of redemption and deliverance from sin,
From its lure and attraction and it’s powerful yen.
For my spirit seeks Christ and Jesus alone,
But my body desires the carnal, its down in our bone.
Now the river will cleanse us of all such desire,
Like gold purified inside of the fire.
So, Jesus, come quickly, for this I can’t wait,
A clean heart, a clean mind, yes, a brand new clean slate.
Tertius
For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it,
but it is sin living in me that does it.
Romans 7:19-20
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.
Revelation 22:1
A note about “Crystal Clear”: I don’t remember exactly how I heard about a particular NDE (near death experience) of someone who before entering heaven was accompanied by someone else who led them down to a river where they entered and their companion explained to them that they were in the water to be washed of all worldly contamination. It seems the closer we get to God the more obvious our stains of sin, and even though they seem to grow more disgusting day by day we go “back, Jack and do it again.” I have no longer a desire whatsoever for drugs or booze, but worry, anger, pride and frustration constantly hound my soul like a pack of wild dogs. Sounds like I’m trying to blame an outside source; but I’m not. They’re my dogs. The title alludes to Revelation 22:1, but for me its real glory is of hope promised to us in 1 John 3:2, What a day of rejoicing that will be!