Living Water

Text: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10).

There are many different kinds of water. There is city water, distilled water, spring water, de-ionized water, well water, purified water, mineral water, sparkling water, hard water, boiled water, filtered water, soft water, snow water, rain water, salt water, etc.

Jesus talked about water, but He did not refer to any of these kinds of water. He named a different water. He spoke of “living water”.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t recall seeing this kind of water on the shelf of any grocery store or any other kind of store. Can anyone acquire this kind of water? Where do we have to go to purchase this “living water”? Is this water available to each one of us?

It is true that we will not find “living water” in the grocery store because it is given by God and not by a producer or maker here on earth. We can’t pop the cap and take a drink. We can’t turn on the faucet and fill a glass. We can’t draw it from a well. It will not satisfy our physical thirst, but it will satisfy a thirsty soul.

This “living water” is available to anyone who has a right relationship with Almighty God. People who have the right desire may obtain the “living water”. The “living water” offered to the Samaritan woman was the Spirit of grace.

Today, Jesus offers us “living water” and that “living water” is the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is to repent of our sins and ask Jesus to take up residence within our heart. He will do this in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

We do not have to go anywhere in particular to acquire this “living water”. Jesus is the fountain of life and once we accept Him as our own personal Lord and Savior, our life will be changed. We will not be the same as we were previously. We will have peace within our heart knowing that one day we will take our place in one of the rooms of the heavenly mansion and forever be with Jesus.

“Jesus left Judea and departed again to Galilee” (John 4:3). Why do you think Jesus left Judea? Remember that not all people were in agreement with Him. In fact, some of the people were very hostile toward Jesus. Knowing this information, Jesus probable left Judea because He knew His life might be prematurely brought to an end.

He wanted to move to an area where His preaching and teaching would be acceptable to the majority of people. His mission was to spread the Father’s Word. He knew what lay ahead of Him. He knew about all the trials and tribulations He would encounter and go through. That is the reason Jesus decided to move forward and His move was in the direction of Galilee.

In order to get to Galilee, Jesus had to go through Samaria. On His journey through Samaria, “He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph” (John 4:5).

Jesus had traveled all day long, evening was coming and He and His disciples were tired. Scripture tells us that they stopped by Jacob’s well to rest. Wells in those days were located outside the city.

The well was a hole in the ground and collected water that seeped down through the rocks and soil. The water lay below the surface of the ground, so that water had to be drawn using some type of rope and bucket or container. After Jesus’ disciples went into the city to buy food, Jesus sat down near the well to rest.

As Jesus sat there, “A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink’” (John 4:7). This was a simple request. If you or I had been in Jesus’ place, we probably would have asked the woman the same question. She most likely would have responded positively and we would have received a cup of water.

The difference here is that Jesus was a Jew. That may not seem like a big thing to us, but the fact is the Jews had no use for the Samaritans. Why was this? What did the Jews do or what did the Samaritans do to create this animosity?

Many years before this time, the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians. At the time, the northern kingdom’s capital was Samaria. After this event, many of the Jews were sent to Assyria. When that happened, foreigners were brought into Samaria to settle the land and to keep it at peace.