Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water,
so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
John 4:13-15 NRSV
Water has been the source of many discussions over the past days. Here in Lenoir, we could use a good soaking rain; but in Louisiana and the Northeast, an abundance of water has caused destructive flooding.
The fact is that water is the source of life. Without it, both plants and animals can’t live. I observed this first hand this week when I returned from Greece. Several of my outside plants didn’t make it, because they went a week without watering.
When Jesus observed a woman coming to draw water from a well, He shared with her that even though the water she was drawing would quench her thirst that day, she would need to trace her steps everyday, because her physical thirst would return; but that if she would receive the water He gives, she would never be thirsty again.
Of course, He was referring to the spiritual water that only He could give. But interestingly, Jesus made the point that the water is not primarily for blessing us individually. Instead, He said that the spiritual water He gives: “will become a spring or fountain flowing out of us to bless others…”.
Surprisingly, the blessings received by others from us are not blessings that we give. They are blessings that come from God because of the rivers of living water that He pours out through us.
Perhaps you respond: “But I don’t see rivers coming out of me.” When we trust God and are faithful, God will use us (sometimes even in spite of us) as springs through which His living water flows to others, and gushes up to eternal life.
The next couple of weeks in worship, we will explore God’s promises related to the Kingdom of Heaven. Invite someone to come to church with you or to worship with us online.
Blessings and love,
Pastor Dave