Water is life. As I sat in my hospital room, ill from dehydration, I was reminded of this simple fact. We are living beings as fragile as the grass drawn together by needs, both simple and profound: food, air, sunlight, water and hope.
Flowing water cheers the heart. Sitting by the ocean, a lake, or a mountain stream gives us rest and peace. You can hear the ocean’s gentle whisper as the waves crest along the seashore. You can breathe the silence of a still lake at sunset. You can feel the laughter and babble of a stream or river as it rushes through the woods. You can almost see the wild things chitter and splash as they feed along the banks. Water is life and water is hope.
Thirst can kill. It is a pale and dry place filled with desperation. It is both a dizzying and hollow feeling. Hours are relentless and time is the enemy. One thought alone remains: a cool drink of water pouring past your parched tongue and down your aching throat, as thirst can kill, water can save.
Christ is the giver of the water that brings life and hope. “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” (John 7:37) We thrive because of Christ’s grace. We drink the cup of His mercy. He and only He gives true hope.
He is an oasis in a bleak and arid world. He directs our weary steps to a place of hope and slakes our burning thirst. He shepherds our way and protects us from our misguided wanderings. He leads our restless souls beside still pools and bids us to drink. He restores our souls.
He gives abundantly. The water He pours out roars louder than the great waterfalls of the earth. It split rock and made the earth tremble. It is both majestic and fearsome, awesome in its might and breathtakingly beautiful. It is living water, born of His blood and freely given. And He pours it out to reconcile us to God.
We can have springs of living water, flowing within our souls, if only we merely ask. ”Whoever believes in Me, as scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:38). We can be reconciled to God. We can have hope. We can have life, abundant and eternal. It is a simple thing to receive. It just requires that you ask Christ for a drink of living water.
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:11-14
Written by Janet Keefe
