Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:13-14
Jesus doesn’t directly answer her question about whether He is greater than Jacob but remains focused on helping her understand the importance of the living water He is offering her. He knows she has been seeking to quench her thirty through worldly means. He knows that she is dying for the living water, that her soul is empty. He knows that she is not satisfied with life, and He longs to quench her thirty, to give her the eternal peace and joy that she has longed for, and He knows that He alone can supply that need. Jesus longs to impart to her grace the living water that will cleanse and revitalize her soul. Jesus is offering her eternal life.
I like this part where Jesus says, “but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” We can drink water all day, but unless it enters the cells in the body, it will not hydrate or nourish us. We must come to the fountain of life every day, maybe several times a day. We are encouraged to drink deeply from the well of living water, God’s word, and His grace. When we do and live by the principles taught in His word, we will be adequately hydrated and nourished for the day. We will be changed from within, springing up into everlasting life. Oh, what a mighty, precious God we serve.
Let’s pause for a moment.
What I love about this story is that Jesus opens Himself up to Olivia in a way you don’t often see when He is in the presence of the children of Israel. He speaks openly about eternal life with her. He crosses a line of long-standing cultural barriers and prejudices. He goes where His countrymen, even His disciples, who walk with Him, will not go.
In the world of ministry/business, we make decisions on where we will draw our source of strength from. We decide where to go for advice, counsel, comfort, support, and guidance. We give it our all. They say hindsight is twenty-twenty vision, meaning when we look back, we can see where the Holy Spirit was alerting us that we were veering off course. It invites us to read, pray and spend time with Him and fellow believers, but the ministry/business needs more and more of our time and attention. We are drying up. Our emotional and spiritual cells are not being hydrated with the word of God, and we can sense that need for water, but we tell ourselves that missing time with God won’t hurt us; we will get to it later. We know our well is drying up or has been dry for a while, but we refuse to stop until it is often too late. Some may cursedly try to figure out why they are no longer experiencing the satisfying, cool, refreshing, life-reinvigorating experience we once had. Some fail to dig deep enough, to be honest with themselves and God as to why they stopped drinking His living water. Some are afraid to look too close as to why they veer off course. How did we get here…?
The world has standards and makes promises if we adhere to those standards, promising significant returns on our investments. The results will be riches and fame, promises of happiness and peace. The problem is its empty promises. At first, the prospects sound good, and with sincere intention, we pursue worldly advice and counsel on promoting and growing the business and ministry. We see how taking this course has greatly blessed others, and why not? We can be a blessing to others if we play by the world’s rules.
The world's well may quench our thirst for certain things. However, it can not satisfy the heart's deep, internal longing. Only Jesus can do that… Remember what Jesus said, “but the water that I shall give…” will quench our thirsty souls. Let’s be honest; there is a constant fear that the world's well may suddenly dry up and stop producing. The world's well water may turn stale, rancid, and polluted. And the emotional, physical, and spiritual cost of going to the world well is taking more and more out of us.
The living water that Jesus offers us quenches the soul in ways no other water will do. I can get inside those hurt, dry, lonely, and misunderstood places like nothing else. And although this water quenches our thirty, we will never want to do anything else. It is because we must drink daily; one time won’t do, refreshes us and invigorates our soul. It won’t dry up or become dirty, and no one can take our waterpot away from us.
This living water is the word of God; it is grace; it is Christ Himself, living within, changing us from within. We will seek nothing else because we are always full of life. A satisfying life.
To God be the glory for the great things He has done.
Until next time… Have a blessed week.
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