January 23
Bible Reading: John 4:13-15
John 4:13-15, “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’”
She no doubt felt dissatisfied with life. She’d been married five times, and the one she was now with was not her husband. That adds up to a lot of heartbreak and disappointment. Sin deceitfully promises fulfillment in a lustful pursuit of some kind. But instead leads us down a dead-end path full of sorrow and regret (Hebrews 11:25). She had had a lot of partners, and there was a reason. But Jesus knew all about that. He was aware of all her misguided attempts to find soul satisfaction in the passing pleasures of sin. Her soul needed something better. Jesus came to her for that very reason.
The conversation between Jesus and the woman and the well was all about water. He asked for water. He then offered to her His living water that would work to satisfy her thirsty soul (John 4:13-14).
According to the rule of “Threes,” a man can live for three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, and three weeks without food. Regular consumption of H2O is essential to a person’s physical health. However, there is no kind of physical water that can forever quench a person’s thirst. It is therefore necessary to drink again. What is true in the physical realm holds true in the spiritual. We are born with a thirst for God that no man-devised way can fully satisfy (Jeremiah 2:13). It is as St. Augustine once says, “For you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”
Jesus offered living water to her, living water that would forever satisfy her deepest longings and become in her “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). On a later date, He would stand before a multitude and offer His living water to them all (John 7:37-38). Who doesn’t thirst? Life can leave us parched of soul, but Jesus invites us to come and satiate our soul needs in Him. The invitation is to “whoever” — religious and irreligious, men and women, Jew, Samaritan, Gentile, rich men and poor—no matter their present estate, they can have their soul needs fully met in Him. He is a “fountain of living water” to those who trust in Him (Jeremiah 2:13; Revelation 22:1). She went to the well to get water. Jesus found her there, and in Him she discovered life both eternal and abundant (John 4:39-42, 10:10). Jesus alone can satisfy the deepest longings of our souls.
The world offers a stagnant cistern. Jesus offers a satisfying well.
FILL MY CUP, LORD
Like the woman at the well, I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy.
And then I heard my Savior speaking—
“Draw from My well that never shall run dry.”
Refrain:
Fill my cup, Lord; I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.
There are millions in this world who are seeking
For pleasures earthly goods afford.
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord. [Refrain]
So my brother if the things that this world gives you
Leave hungers that won’t pass away,
My blessed Lord will come and save you
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray— [Refrain]
LookingtoJesus 