Living Water

“But whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again.”

John 4:14a (Common English Bible)

     What a bold claim! “Whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again.” The question presses, does Jesus mean just what He says? Is this a figure of speech that is to be held loosely or is this an absolute truth we can stake our lives on? Jesus is claiming to provide something necessary for life; something we can’t do without.

     What Jesus is promising here is to annihilate our thirst of the soul, a thirst which is now the source of so much anxiety and pain. Pause to grasp the significance of this claim. Jesus is making the claim to have the power to appease all that causes us to be unsettled. Jesus removes the threat of forces and circumstances that diminish life.

    What is the thirst of the soul? Is it not a thirst for assurance; the assurance that the fears which trouble the heart and fears which occupy the mind will not defeat us? We are familiar with these fears. They accelerate the pulse and stir a tossing restlessness in the night. Some may state the condition more urgently, an experience of panic and dread. Jesus promises to annihilate the dread and remove the threat. Jesus gives assurance.

     Jesus is the fountain that is never depleted. Rivers have their seasons of drought. Springs run dry. Other resources fail us. They lack the ability to sustain us consistently. Their uncertainty aggravates the very thirst they profess to relieve. Jesus announces that He is the eternal spring; the living water. It will be in Him that our souls find rest and contentment and abiding peace.

Joy,