Living Water

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."
-John 4:10

Lately, the Lord has really been talking to me about carrying living water to the thirsty. Jesus teaches us that the greater need of man kind is always spiritual, not physical. For example, healing is for a temporary body, but salvation is forever.  Food satisfies a man for a couple hours, but the Word of God breathes eternal life into a man's soul. I remember one day on the trail, I was walking along and I asked God why he had sent me out here.  His response was simple, because I was finally willing to carry living water. No more will I ever see just the physical needs of a person. Deep within every one of us is a soul that longs to be satisfied, and if all I give to a man is a meal it won't mean much. But when Jesus said to that woman he had living water that she wouldn't thirst any more, he wasn't talking about H2O. He was speaking of the relationship we can have with Father God.

It's interesting that passage of scripture shares with us that she had many husbands. I don't think she had so many husbands because she enjoyed the vicious cycle of heart break and remarriage. I think it's because she was looking for something in those relationships that only Father God could provide. This living water isn't a fictitious concept, it's the idea that an obedient relationship with God can satisfy our deepest longings and questions concerning life. As long as one searches for meaning, purpose, and ultimate satisfaction in the things of this world, they will depend on material and finite objects. This is why atheism looks so appealing. It appears that you can build upon the scaffolding of atheism any life you choose, but in the end it does not hold up to life's most important questions. When we look to God, who is love, we find the arms of compassion. We find that we have ultimate meaning and ultimate purpose imprinted within each one of us. His living water is the catalyst to take a less than perfect person, and make them whole again.

This act of carrying living water is something I will take home with me. It's an area of growth that Dawn and I have both experienced. Neither one of us want to be an empty vessel again. Wherever God puts us, we will take his living water.