In John 4:7 we read, “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.” Jesus began the conversation with a simple request: “Give me to drink.” He was no doubt thirsty for literal water, but as we shall see He was also thirsting for the salvation of her precious soul. He goes on in verse 10 to say, “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.” He speaks first of the “gift of God” and then of the “living water.” The GIFT OF GOD refers, we believe, to the Lord Jesus and the life He offers repentant sinners. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” If the “gift of God” is “life through Christ,” what is the LIVING WATER? We can turn to John 7:37-39 to answer that question, for it reads, “In that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” The “living water” is the Holy Spirit, Who is given to all who believe on Christ.

The woman didn’t have a clue what He was speaking of, for in verses 11-12 she speaks of the well they were standing by and thought He must be referring to literal water. In verse 13 Jesus makes it very clear to her that He is NOT speaking of literal water, for He tells her, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.” Her mind was focused on literal water and meeting her physical thirst, but she needed to see that she had a spiritual need that could be met by spiritual water. Sadly, most people are like this poor woman. They spend their entire lives trying to find satisfaction in material things, but no matter what they try, they learn the lesson the Lord is teaching here, THEY WILL THIRST AGAIN!

The “living water” Jesus gives QUENCHES THE THIRST, which He makes clear in verse 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.” We saw earlier that the “living water” is the Holy Spirit and that His presence in the believer results in “rivers of living water” flowing out of us. What does that mean? I believe it means that the Holy Spirit will not only bring satisfaction to our own hearts, but we will be a channel of blessing to others so that they too can have their soul thirst satisfied. But WE MUST DRINK OF THE WATER for this to happen! 1 Corinthians 12:13 informs us “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one bodyand have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” To “drink into one Spirit” means we allow the Spirit to control us and to make Christ and His word precious to us. John 16:13-14 teaches us that the Spirit will “guide you into all truth” and that He delights to glorify Christ by revealing Him unto us. When He is allowed to do this it truly is “a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” for we will experience eternal life the way God intended us to. We will have love, joy, peace and all the other fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. And this life will spill out of us and be a source of blessing to others.  (185.1)  (DO)