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Last week we saw how water has so many properties that make it so useful and sometimes even indispensable. Water has the ability to satisfy. It satisfies thirst and sustains life. We have come across so many Biblical passages that refer to water as a spring, a river, an ocean or even a flood. 

One of the earliest stories connected to water in the Bible is about Hagar. If you read Genesis 21:19, the Bible says, “Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So, she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.”

After being driven out, Hagar had lost all hope and had given up. She put the boy aside and was crying loudly as she knew he was going to die of thirst. The Bible says, God opened her eyes and she saw the “well of water”. God tells Hagar, “I heard the child crying.” What we understand here is that Hagar could not see the well, until God opened her eyes. She and her son drank of that water and were saved from death. 

God has the well of abundant life set before us. But the question is, are we able to see it? The Psalmist says, “…open my eyes so I can see what you show me of your miracle-wonders”.(Psalm 119:18 Msg). Could we make that our prayer today?

I read a very interesting story related to our theme; it’s about a phenomenon that takes place in South America. Where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon River rushes out! This is how the story goes:

Long before the use of radio and technology the ships had to signal one another with signal flags to communicate a message. One of ships at sea had gone for many days. They could not see land and ran out of water. The men were dehydrated and about to perish. 

Then on the horizon they saw a ship. When it came closer, one of the men signaled by a flag, “We need water, we’re in dire condition. We need water, please come and give us water.”But the response they got back from the passing ship was, “Let down your bucket.” Thinking they must not have understood that we need drinking water, they sent another message, “Please, we are dying. Give us water and save us”. And the ship signaled back again, “Let down your bucket.” Then the captain said to himself, “I don’t know what they mean by this message. But we’ll never know unless we give it a try”. So they let down the buckets, pulled the water up and as soon as they took a taste of the water, amazingly the water was cool, fresh and clear. Here's what happened for 200 miles - there is rush and a surge of fresh water from the Amazon river which is so clear and cool that it pushes the heavier salt water all the way down. There’s clear, cool water for 200 miles where that river runs into the ocean. It was under their nose the whole time as they were thirsting to death.  All they had to do was to let down their buckets!

Jesus said, in John 4:13-14 to the Samaritan woman “Everyone who drinks of this water, will thirst again; 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.”  

On another occasion Jesus cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.  Whoeverbelieves in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them”(John 7:37). This was truly astonishing, as nobody prior to this had ever dared to speak like this. Jesus was saying that he was the wellspring of salvation, of which the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation”(Isaiah 12:3).He was the Messiah, the Lord’s anointed one. If only the people would believe in Him, HE would quench their spiritual thirst.

Are you thirsty today? Just let down your bucket and drink of the water that will quench your thirst for ever.