LIVING WATER What did Jesus mean by “living water” (John 4:13-14)? In the Old Testament, many verses speak of thirsting after God. In promising to 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.
Psalm 36:8-9 “They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see
light.”
Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet
with God?”
Isaiah 55:1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no
money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and
without cost.”
Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of
living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot
hold water.”
Jeremiah 17:13 “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they
have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water.” LIFE AFTER LIVING WATER 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. Jesus did not come to take away challenges, but to change us on the inside and to empower us to deal with problems from God’s perspective. Indications that living water is flowing within us come from the reality of our new life in Jesus, our awareness of the Spirit within, a sense of direction to life, the specific guidance we receive from God’s Word, opportunities to love and serve others, and the comforting knowledge that we are surrounded by other believers also on the way to heaven.
