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Years ago I was really thirsty for God. My husband and I had moved from a young, thriving church in a frontier town in northern British Columbia to a tiny village further south in the province, where it seemed only the older generation attended church. The people were pleasant enough, but we missed the energy and activities of our former church.
One day I stood at the sink washing dishes. “Where are You, God?” I called out in desperation. My props of young people and a vibrant life in the church had been pulled out from under me. Without these, life seemed like a barren desert. My thoughts were like the psalmist's words : “My soul thirsts for you...in a parched and thirsty land where there is no water.”( Psalm 63:1 NLT) I wasn't sure how to go about fulfilling the longing in my heart. I knew I had once had a real encounter with God, and I wanted to get back into that state of closeness to Him.
A woman Jesus met at a well near a town in Samaria had similar longings, although she didn't put them into direct words. Much to her surprise, Jesus had asked her for a drink of water. Jews didn't normally mix with Samaritans, especially not women. Jesus offered her living water. He said, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” (John 4: 13, 14 NLT) The woman didn't get it. Her mind on a physical level, she thought that Jesus was referring to the water from the well. She thought she wouldn't have to return to the well each day to get water. She didn't realize that Jesus was offering her a new quality of life, the living water of eternal life.
When the truth became clear to her, she ran back in great haste to the village to tell everyone: “Come and see a man who who told me everything I ever did. Could he possibly be the Messiah?” (John 4:29 NLT)
How can we today get this same living water? First of all, we have to understand that we are thirsty. We have to be ripe for change, to long to live in a different way than the way we have been living.
Then, we have to ask Jesus for the living water that will quench our thirst. As the woman at the well left her water jug behind as she ran off, we need to decide to leave our “barren-desert” life, and determine to wholehertedly follow Jesus.
Are we ready to partake of the living water Jesus offers us?
Alice Burnett
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