Never Thirst

So back to the land of the living.

I am no longer living under the curse of time change. I am up and adam, and can't get the thirst analogy out of my head. So we are back again, looking at Christ's solution for us, the thirsty.

One thing I love about Jesus is that he loves a good metaphor. I am a sucker for figurative speech. The story of the woman at the well is no exception. Brief recap - Jesus is in Samaria in a small town called Sychar. Tired, he sits down by a well where a woman comes to draw water. He strikes up a conversation with her and asks her for a drink.

He tells her, "Everyone who drinks this water [from the well] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14

Never thirst. Imagine. Now, you and I both know He is not talking to her about water from that Samaritan well. He is talking of a different kind of water. He is the Water. The Living Water. Let's back up.

I looked up thirst in this passage. I was so struck by what I found. Read and tell me if you relate. Thirst: figuratively, those who painfully feel their want of, and eagerly long for, those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, strengthened. Good ol' Merriam Webster defines thirst as a sensation of dryness....an ardent desire, craving, longing.

I am relating. I often come to this place of painfully needing refreshment for my soul. Spiritually dry. Craving something. Further, correct me if I'm wrong here, but doesn't this define our culture? Eagerly longing for refreshment for the soul. Support. Strength. Longing to quench desires. Can I suggest that we are going to the wrong well?

Drink in this passage means to receive into the soul what serves to refresh, strengthen, nourish...into eternal life. See the connection. Jesus is offering to her (to us) refreshment and nourishment for our figurative thirst.

But what is this water?! Even the Samaritan woman perked up and asked, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here." v. 15

Oh I love this. Water, by definition is emblematic of the SPIRIT; our identification with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. A New Birth: a setting aside of all that the believer was according to the flesh. A new beginning.

So Jesus is telling this woman (who by the way has one heck of a past) that she can drink the Water he offers and she will have a new beginning. He will set aside all that she was and her past will metaphorically go to the cross, die... only to be resurrected. New. Glory.

This world has nothing comparable to offer. Nothing.

Wherever you are today, drink.

Receive for your soul what serves to refresh and strengthen.

If this is news to you, salvation is to be had. Set aside all that you were and receive a new beginning that only Christ can offer.

If you are a thirsty believer, going to the wells of this world, set down your cisterns. He is the Spring by which our wells are fed.

Be blessed.