Living Water
Water. Something we simply can’t do without.
A Personal Story
A year ago I began a journey to improve my health. I was worn and weary from several emotionally and physically taxing years. My body had taken a toll as well as my heart, and I decided if God was going to keep me here on this earth for awhile, I needed to address my problem. After all, how could I be of any use to anyone else unless I was as healthy as possible?
I joined the Biblical Nutritionist Inner Circle coaching program, hoping the accountability and encouragement would help me. And that’s when I began to see change.
One of the first pieces of advice I heard as I listened to courses and coaching calls was to drink enough good water every day. I thought I was pretty healthy by not drinking lots of soda. I had no idea how much water I really needed. Nor did I realize how concerned I should be about contaminants often found in our water supply.
I jumped in with gusto. I researched products and bought a water filtering system. Hearing how plastic can leech into liquids from plastic water bottles, I bought several non-disposable water bottles to replace all the Sam’s water I had been drinking. It took awhile, but I became use to filling up the bottles each day to remind me how much water I should drink that day. And I carried water from home with me whenever possible.
I’m convinced the filtered water is healthier for me and drinking enough water each day definitely makes me feel better. But I have to do it every day. Wouldn’t it be nice to have living water available that only has to be ingested once? No need to keep tabs on it every day?
Someone in the Bible wanted the same thing and talked to Jesus about it.
The Samaritan Woman
Have you thought much about Jesus redirecting His path from Jerusalem to Galilee just so He could talk with a woman most people avoided? Jews weren’t use to traveling through Samaria. They went out of their way to avoid the place due to history, tradition, and prejudice. But Jesus ignored those rules of the day and deliberately positioned Himself at a Samaritan village’s well just when this one woman came to draw water.
You can find the story in John 4. An amazing testament to the power of God’s love for each of us. But in the midst of the conversation that starts with Jesus asking the woman to draw some water for Him, He winds up telling her a deep spiritual truth.
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10).
Continuing His conversation with the woman at the well, Jesus led her to understand she had a need for living water that was far greater than her need for water from the well. Once she understood the Messiah was there for her and offered her water of a different nature, water that would sustain her for eternity, she left her water pot and ran to tell everyone she met about the Christ.
Waters of Life
Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman isn’t the first time the Bible speaks about living water. The prophet Isaiah was led by God to tell Israel to come to the waters.
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.”Isaiah 55:1
And God had the prophet Jeremiah reprimand His people Israel when they ignored the living waters.
“Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate,” says the LORD.“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.”Jeremiah 2:12-13
Early on in the life of the nation of Israel, God provided them water in the desert. On the long journey from slavery in Egypt to the promised land of Canaan, the people encountered a dry land with no source of water. They cried out to Moses who asked God what to do. God led Moses to strike a rock and water gushed forth. Enough to satisfy every thirsty soul (Exodus 17:1-7).
Isn’t that just like Jesus has done for us? We were those thirsty souls, wandering in the desert. Without hope. Without a source of living water.
But God sent His Son to pay the penalty we deserved. Jesus was broken for us, and out of Him comes the water we all so desperately need. From Him comes the water of life.
Living Water
For the last several weeks, I’ve been reading and studying the book of Revelation. It’s an amazing book, and God tells us those who read it are blessed. Even though some of it’s hard to grasp, I’ll spend time reading it. God hasn’t disappointed me yet.
Today’s study took me to the idea of living water.
“And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.'”
Revelation 21:6
Jesus is the fountain of living water. In John 7:37-38, we read His words.
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'”
Lately I’ve awakened each day with a new awareness of the life-giving Spirit living within me. Truths I’ve known seem so much more real. I was dead in my sins. D-E-A-D. But Jesus gave me life. As the Lord told Nicodemus, every one of us has to be born again if we want to see the Kingdom of God (John 3). That takes drinking of the water of life, Jesus Himself.
In Matthew 5:6, we’re told Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”
If we hunger and thirst for righteousness, Jesus promises we will be filled. If we are thirsty for what truth alone can give us, Jesus says come to Him and drink.
Everlasting Life-Giving Water
Water is essential to life. On this earth, we need good water every day. Plenty of it.
But for eternity, we need a different kind of water. We need the life-giving water only found in Jesus Christ. He is the Source. He calls us to come and drink freely for He already paid the price. And if we will come, He not only gives us life-giving water, but it springs up in us as a fountain, the Holy Spirit in us living the life of Christ through us on into eternity. How is this possible? I don’t have to know. I just have to trust my Lord and my King enough to say, “Yes!”
“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.'”
John 4:13-14
A Personal Postscript
After reading in Revelation today, I ran several errands. My birthday’s in a week. Not only is my car emission inspection and car tag due, but my driver’s license has to be renewed. It took awhile to do it all, but as I drove from one place to the next, I listened to several podcasts.
When I finished at the last of the three needed locations, I headed home a different route than my normal one. As I drove, the podcast I was listening to was coming to a close. Ray Comfort was being interviewed and gave his contact information. His website? Livingwaters.com. About that same time I spotted the sign. A local church advertised the name of the pastor and mentioned his sermon as “Come!”
Living waters. Come!
I smiled. And worshipped. My God lives and moves among us. He isn’t silent. Jesus is the fountain of living water. And His Spirit lives in those who are His. What a blessing and a joy!
As Jack Hibbs said in his sermon last Sunday, we can walk and talk with Jesus all the way to eternity.
Thank the Lord for His living water!
(Scripture: New King James Version; Photo: Taken by Carolyn Thigpen, Mishmar Ha-yarden, Israel, March, 2023; You may also enjoy Thirsty Yet?)
