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It’s Water again!!! In the bulletin last week we discussed the meaning of water from the Bible. This week let us know some more about it.

In the OT, many verses speak of thirsting after God as one thirsts for water (Ps 42:1, Isa 55:1, Jer 2:13, Zech 13:1). God is called the fountain of life (Ps 36:9) and the spring of living water (Jer 17:13). In saying he would bring living water that could forever quench a person's thirst for God, Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah. Only the Messiah could give this gift that satisfies the soul's desire.

Jesus used the word water in yet another figurative way when, “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink...”” (John 7:37-39). Here Jesus was prophesying about the Spirit who would come as the “living water” on the Day of Pentecost. He would pour out His Spirit upon the Church. He calls us to drink of the well.

In John 4 - The Samaritan woman came to the well by divine appointment. Jesus was passing by, and He stopped to rest. This woman came at a moment when she had an empty life. Her expectations in life had faded. No longer hoping for anything different, she was miserable, unhappy and thirsty. Jesus skillfully showed her that she needed the living water that only He can give. It’s the same basic message of salvation.

The woman was confused about the two kinds of water. No one had ever told her about the spiritual hunger and thirst. We would not think of depriving our bodies of food and water when they hunger or thirst. Why then should we deprive our souls? The living Word, Jesus Christ and the written Word, the Bible can satisfy our hungry and thirsty souls.

The woman mistakenly believed that if she received the water Jesus offered, she would not have to return to the well each day. She was interested in Jesus' message because she thought it could make her life easier. But if that were always the case, people would accept Christ's message for the wrong reasons. Christ did not come to take away challenges, but to change us on the inside and to empower us to deal with problems.

The woman did not immediately understand what Jesus was talking about. It takes time to accept something that changes the very foundation of one’s life. Jesus allowed the woman time to ask questions and put pieces together. Sharing the gospel may not always have immediate results. When we ask people to let Jesus change their lives, allow them time to weigh the matter.

When this woman discovered that Jesus knew all about her private life, she quickly changed the subject. Often people become uncomfortable when the conversation gets too close to home, and they try to evade the topic. As we witness, we should gently guide the conversation back to Christ. His presence exposes sin and makes people squirm, but only Christ can forgive sins and give new life.

The water given by Jesus means spiritual life (Isa 12:3). To partake of this living water, one must drink (7:37). This act of drinking is not a momentary, single act, but rather a progressive or repeated drinking. Drinking the water of life requires regular communion with the source, Jesus Christ Himself.

Jesus further explains that the gift of living water that Jesus offers satisfies the thirsty soul for time and eternity. Jesus tells this woman (4:14): “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life”.

So, have you asked Jesus for the living water of eternal life? Do you have the evidence of being satisfied in Jesus? You can continue to drink from the world’s sources, but you’ll thirst again (4:13). When you drink of the living water from Jesus you will never thirst again.