Scripture: John 4 v 10 - 14: "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
There are two ways that human beings experience life on this planet. The first is the breath of life that God breathed into a statue of clay called Adam.
Genesis 2 v 7: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
Before this breath enters us, plus the moment it leaves us, we are dead. The very breath we breathe at birth is God given. The breath He breathed into Adam has given life to every soul.
The next time God breathed on us, through His Son, Jesus Christ, we were born again of water and spirit.
John 20 v 20 - 23: "And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."
The water He gives us is the Living Water to flow out of our innermost beings. We are generally unaware of this phenomenon because it is hidden in our soul.
It cleanses us continually in our thoughts, emotions and will. However, Jesus says when we have this Living Water we will never thirst again. He is not talking about drinking water to quench our thirst, He means spiritually we have arrived at the spiritual well containing all truth. Seek and we shall find.
When Jesus breathed on His disciples to receive the infilling of the Holy Ghost. This is not the same as the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This is the promise of the Father which would come upon the disciples ten days after Jesus ascended into Heaven.
Through the infilling the fruit of the Spirit grows in us....love, joy, peace, patience, faith, meekness, kindness, self control and goodness. This is the very nature of Jesus.
After He breathed on them He said they now had power to wisely judge who was truly repenting of sin and who was pretending. They could give forgiveness from God as He had done to the lame man who was set free to walk. Is it better to say rise up and walk, or, your sins are forgiven?
The Living Water is never stagnant nor still. It flows like a river and brings life within us to dead areas, diseased areas, broken areas of our souls. The more we allow Jesus to work within us, the more we are refreshed by the Living Water. The more alive we become, the more active we are in His Body, praying, sharing, touching the lives of others.
The more the fruit of the Spirit grows, the more we become like Jesus as God has ordained. Romans 8 v 29 - 30: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
God knew us before this world was formed. He foreknew us and set His plan for our salvation in motion. He predestined us to be a new creation, justified for forgiveness of sin and glorified by the indwelling of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. When all this comes together within us the Living Water is in full flow.
Consider our fallen nature of sin, sickness and death. What we were like before we were born again. How we have been changed from within to shudder at bad language and immoral behaviour. We feel heartsore for human beings who are addicts, molested, suffering, dying when Jesus can change all that. In agreement with God concerning abominations, no matter how many man-made laws approve of them. We have lost our arrogance, restlessness and hate issues, and live in harmony and peace now. We have learned to deny the demands of our flesh and rather yield to the Lord.
Ordinary water satisfies our thirst for a short time. Living Water needs only one dose to last for eternity. Unsaved people thirst for all the wrong things while seeking the ultimate profound peace of Jesus. They fill that empty Christ-shaped space in their souls with drugs, alcohol, sex, music, work, obsessions. It is only when they are frustrated, unfulfilled and delusional that they realise that peace has not come and they seek Jesus Himself.
The Living Water reduces our passions from wild to manageable. It establishes that our love for our Father surpasses ordinary emotions. The Ten Commandments are reduced to two. To love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds and strength. To love our neighbour as ourselves. That means we will not lie, steal, covet, hurt, insult, fight or harm our neighbour in any way. Who is our neighbour? Those closest to us, spouse, children, other family, church folk, work mates, strangers in need.
Our only real work from now on is to become a beacon of light to shine into the darkness of the world and its fallen state. Our work is to save souls. No matter what we think our secular job is, it is now just a place where Jesus is alive in their midst. The Living Water is flowing out around them. They feel His Presence, they feel convicted and usually resent it.
We may be called upon by God to share with some of them of how our lives have been changed by Jesus. It's like giving a cup of Living Water to a dying person. Someone gave us that life giving gift of Living Water, and that gift grows as we give it to others.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, let this gift be poured out into the thirsting souls that need Your eternal life. Let us work together with You to saturate the world with Your Living Water to free them from all bondage and evil things, to become vessels of righteousness to bless others. In Jesus' name. Amen.