Generally speaking, a person can only survive about three days without water. But when it comes to the health and vitality of your soul, you cannot go a single minute without God’s “living water.”
One day Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. He said to her,
“’Will you give me a drink?’ The Samaritan woman said to Him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water’” (John 4:9-10).
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Jesus was not like those religious leaders of His day who merely went through the motions of religion, but whose hearts were far from God. Jesus was sinless and completely different from the religious hypocrites who opposed Him. You see, the Messiah loves everyone regardless of their gender, race, religion or background.
In Jesus’ day, women were thought to be inferior to men. But Jesus knew better. After all, He created “male and female” (Genesis 1:27) And so when Jesus lovingly reached out to this Samaritan woman, it was a beautiful demonstration of God’s compassion and mercy. In the Lord’s heart, she was loved and cherished.
Jesus told her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
I suspect that deep down you long to live forever in a place of perfection. After all, who doesn’t? And the miraculous thing about the living water Jesus provides is that it enables you to do just that! Those who receive Jesus as their savior by faith instantly have God’s living water flowing within them. And along with this living water comes the guarantee of everlasting life in Heaven.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). The reason the Lord asked Martha if she believed this good news is because faith in Christ is the only way to receive God’s water of life. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). And since Jesus truly is the life, your soul needs Jesus in order to live forever in Heaven.
Religion that lacks God’s living water is dead religion. It provides no benefits to the soul and does not draw a person even an inch closer to God. Dead religion is a counterfeit, even though its adherents are blind to the fact that their religious efforts are not benefiting their soul in the slightest. In fact, many of those who practice dead religion assume they are close to God. They assume that God is pleased with their zealous attempt to become righteous in His eyes.
But if man could please God and be accepted by our Creator apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ, there would have been no reason for the Son of God to endure the agony of crucifixion as payment for our sins. The Apostle Paul wrote, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the Law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21). And I assure you my friend that Jesus did not die on the cross for nothing!
Jesus told us the truth about the living water that is necessary in order to know God and follow Christ. Jesus said, “If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37-38).
Are you thirsty for God in your life today, or do you tend to be apathetic and complacent toward the Lord? If you lack spiritual thirst today, you might want to check out my 2017 CP op-ed, “Drink Until You are Thirsty.” I wrote, “In the physical realm, water quenches a person’s thirst. In the spiritual realm, however, your thirst actually increases once you begin to drink God’s ‘living water.’ In fact, your thirst for fellowship with God is directly connected to how much living water you drink on a daily basis.”
Dead religion never produces a thirst for God. But the power of the Holy Spirit can bring about this spiritual reality in your soul today. If you will yield your heart and mind to the Lord and His Gospel, the power of God will begin to change you from the inside out. God’s living water will do for you what nothing else can even begin to do. Since you were created by God, He knows what makes you tick, and exactly what you need in order to experience lasting joy, supernatural peace and ultimate satisfaction.
The person of the Holy Spirit is God’s living water for man’s soul. And everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus to be forgiven of their sins immediately begins to drink from the refreshing streams God graciously provides.
Would you like to experience the joy and forgiveness that only God can give you? If so, then turn away from dead religion and worldly philosophies as you trust in Christ alone, and as you surrender your life to the One who gave His life for your sins on the cross.
Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.
