H2O That Really Satisfies

On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.” John 7:37-38

Jesus answered, “You don’t know what God wants to give you, and you don’t know who is asking you for a drink. If you did, you would ask me for the water that gives life.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this life-giving water? Our ancestor Jacob dug this well for us, and his family and animals got water from it. Are you greater than Jacob?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again. But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give is like a flowing fountain that gives eternal life.” John 4:10-15

God satisfies. He satisfies every need and emptiness we can feel. He gives us peace for our restlessness, hope for our hopelessness, purpose for our present. He walks with us in the storms of life giving us comfort and perspective. We fix our eyes upon him and live our life for him and his glory. He fills us with his Holy Spirit and we never will be alone or empty again. Are you feeling dry? Jesus promises that we will have life giving water flowing from deep within, from within our spirit. The source is Jesus. He is the one who gives the water.

What stops the water flowing in our lives?

But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give is like a flowing fountain that gives eternal life.” The woman replied, “Sir, please give me a drink of that water! Then I won’t get thirsty and have to come to this well again.” Jesus told her, “Go and bring your husband.” The woman answered, “I don’t have a husband.” “That’s right,” Jesus replied, “you’re telling the truth. You don’t have a husband. You have already been married five times, and the man you are now living with isn’t your husband.” The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. My ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say Jerusalem is the only place to worship.” Jesus said to her: Believe me, the time is coming when you won’t worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans don’t really know the one you worship. But we Jews do know the God we worship, and by using us, God will save the world. But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshipers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according to the truth. These are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth. The woman said, “I know that the Messiah will come. He is the one we call Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” “I am that one,” Jesus told her, “and I am speaking to you now.”

Jesus told the samaratian woman about the water he offers and then challenges her about her lifestyle and heart condition. She responds by revealing her desire to know the true God…. For more than just religion and rules and restrictions… but to know God in truth and to worship him… to know the Messiah who would write on their hearts and make them God’s children and God their God… What stops the water flowing? When we don’t relate to God, when we are separated from him by sin and restriction, when we have drawn away.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. As we develop our relationship with God we are like the trees psalm 1 talks about, planted by the streams, fruitful, growing, established, strong, alive.

The One Who Could Have Thrown The First Stone

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses brought in a woman who had been caught in bed with a man who wasn’t her husband. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd.   Then they said, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn’t her husband.   The Law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death! What do you say?”   They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him and bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger.   They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally, he stood up and said, “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!”  Once again he bent over and began writing on the ground.  The people left one by one, beginning with the oldest. Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone.   Jesus stood up and asked her, “Where is everyone? Isn’t there anyone left to accuse you?”   “No sir,” the woman answered. Then Jesus told her, “I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don’t sin anymore.”   John 3:8-11

Did you notice that Jesus was the only one there who had done no sin and so by right could have cast the first stone and stoned her to death?

Did you notice that he did not?

Did you notice that he forgave her and set her free and changed her life?

Did you notice his love and compassion and grace and mercy?

Did you notice his authority and power and truth and justice?