Rivers Of Living Water

“But whoever takes a drink of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14 NKJV).

To the Israelites, after forty years of wandering the dry wilderness of Sinai, fresh water springs of Canaan displayed a sign of real blessing. In their dry climate, a running spring nearby became essential before a city or village could be established. Thus, the Hebrew word for spring; En, is preserved today in names such as En-dor, meaning “the spring of Dor”.

Growing up in East Tennessee, I loved drinking from a gushing brook pouring forth its clear crystal flow. Old timers claimed the water must travel over seven rocks to be clean and pure. Not sure if that’s true but it sounds right. Anyway, after a rough day of playing in the woods, I often found myself rushing to the creek behind our house for a cold, slaking drink. Ah—I’m refreshed already!

Let’s move now to the New Testament, expanding our thoughts to the ‘Water of Life’. It’s quite evident we need both physical and spiritual water to nourish our bodies, souls and spirits. Absolutely, we cannot physically live without water. Likewise, the absence of Jesus in our lives brings spiritual dryness and burn out. Yet, when we allow the Savior to make His home in our hearts, we’re like a tree planted by rivers of living water, giving fruit in due season which sustains others in need (Psalm 1:3).

To elaborate further, let’s take a quick look at the Samaritan woman’s astonishment when she met a man at Jacob’s well. This Giver of Life became the very source for her parched existence. Imagine how she felt as she filled her water pots daily, only to be ridiculed and shunned by the locals. Knowing of her marginal and desolate lifestyle, Jesus paid her a timely visit one hot day in Samaria and offered her Himself. Jesus mentioned her sordid past that He might grant her a brand new life.

At some point during their conversation, she believed Him to be more than a prophet and left her water jars, hurrying to tell the townspeople, ‘come see a Man who told me all things I ever did, is not this the Christ?’ (John 4:1-29) All that mattered to the enlightened woman was making Jesus known to all who would hear. In the same way, when we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives, we are forever changed; compelling us to spread hope to everyone, even to the uttermost parts of the world.