Jesus is the living water

By Jennifer Moreno & Jeremiah Model

Jesus is the water that brings life to the soul. By drinking the living water one can live and never thirst again. Jesus wants you to understand that he is the living water.

Just as the physical body needs water to continue living so does the spirit. Speaking physically, we need at least eight glasses of water a day to be fully hydrated. But many times, we only drink when we are thirsty, by that time you’re already dehydrated.

It’s the same thing when your soul is thirsty, we often wait until we are completely dehydrated to find Jesus. Sometimes some people find Jesus on their death bed and at other times they never really find him. You don’t want to be that person.

In the ancient Middle East, a spring of water (which is the meaning in Hebrew: mayim chaiyim) provided a source of life for people. Places that had water were highly valued and people would fight over land because of it.

All humans no matter how tough they say they are yearn for meaning in this life, for some sort of spiritual nourishment and satisfaction. But that can only be found through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Without Jesus the soul will eventually die because the soul is not receiving the living water. John 7:38 (KJV) says “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

The soul is thirsty and we usually try to quench that thirst with many things that satisfy for awhile – the desires of the world. Things Like lust, vanity, money, idol worshiping, promiscuous sex, satisfying the ego and things of that nature. But eventually you will get thirsty again because none of those things will hydrate your soul.

On a spiritual level, water represents that which nourishes our soul. Jeremiah 2:13 says “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Another example in the Bible that Jesus is the living water is the conversation between Jesus and the good Samaritan woman. She came to draw water from Jacob’s well. Jesus went to the well divinely to meet this woman because he knew she would be receptive to him and he knew exactly what she was going through.

Here is a brief snippet of the conversation. John 4:9 “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 here was breaking that barrier of religious theology, stereotypes, sexism and the gentiles.

Then he goes on to answer her saying “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.”

The good Samaritan woman eventually asks Jesus where she can draw from this living water he speaks of. And that’s when Jesus answers saying ” 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.”

In this conversation with the good Samaritan woman, God wants to show us that he knows our circumstances. Maybe you’re placed in a dry place right now or the water has been sucked out of you. But Jesus wants you to know that no matter how far you’ve gone away from him, all you got to do is just take a step back and he’ll be right there.

Since Jesus is the living water, he is the true fountain of life, the only one that can satisfy your soul. He satisfies the craving of the heart for life by imparting you with his Holy Spirit.

Here’s a verse to remember Acts 3:19 – “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

Amen.