Living Water

August 19, 2025

In John chapter 4, Jesus spoke these profound words to the Samaritan woman after asking her for a drink of water from the well: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:10 NASB95) The woman is initially confused and perhaps a bit resistant, but Jesus continues, “… Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14 NASB95) What does this mean?  Let’s take a closer look.

We learn more about this living water in chapter 7, when Jesus stands up at the feast and cries out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive…” (John 7:37-39a) So, we see that the living water Jesus is offering is a reference to the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of God is like a fountain or a river of water that flows from our inner being.

There is a thirst within all people, modern and ancient, for something that will satisfy the soul.  There is a yearning for meaning and wholeness.  Man tries to fulfill this desire with earthly things—worldly pleasures, wealth, career, substances, and the like—but these things will never take away the inner longing.  The thirst will always return.  But what Jesus is offering is a never-ending source of life that will truly satisfy.  The Spirit of God, dwelling within us, brings satisfaction.  He brings joy and peace!  He brings true life!  With the Spirit dwelling within us, our souls become like well-watered, fruitful gardens which bring forth His beautiful fruit.  The water is a blessing not only to our own souls, but as it flows forth, it brings refreshment to those around us.

But notice that we have to come to Jesus for this living water.  We have to ask Him.  We have to believe in Him (and continue to believe).  If we spend our lives living with one foot in Jesus and one foot in the world, we will deprive ourselves of the living water.  But if we will continue to trust in Jesus and follow His voice, He will grant life and peace through His Spirit.  The living water will spring up to eternal life.

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

The Oasis

June 12, 2020

Once upon a time, there was an oasis in the middle of a desert. The desert was a dry wasteland where the sun burned hot. The heat rising from the blistering sand wearied many a traveler. But the oasis gave hope of refreshment to weary souls.

In the oasis was an artesian spring that gave the clearest, bubbling cool water that man has ever tasted. So much so, that its fame spread far and near. Travelers would come to the oasis just because they had heard of the refreshing spring. They drank deeply from its waters and found refreshment and contentment of soul.

Those who frequented the oasis decided to build a cistern near the spring. They used the finest materials and filled it with the pure water. They made the area around their cistern pleasant and comfortable, so that people began to prefer drinking from the cistern than the spring itself. At first no one noticed the difference.

But in time, the cistern became contaminated and leaked. The people began to drink smaller and smaller amounts. Having grown so fond of their cistern, they did not notice that they were weary and faint. They continued to go to the cistern acting as if they had forgotten the spring. Some grew weaker, and others perished in their journeys overcome by the desert’s heat.

for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13 ESV)

–Russ Holden

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Posted by Russell Holden