Devotional
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? ” ( For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. ) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. ” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” -John 4:7-14
I don't like Las Vegas. It's a spiritual desert built on an actual desert. It's too hot, too crowded, and too true to its nickname, Sin City. But there is something in Las Vegas that I love. The fountain in front of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino.
That fountain has an abundance of water. It appears to be living and full of light as it dances to choreographed music–a stark contrast to the barrenness of the desert and the emptiness of so many of its residents and visitors. That fountain of “living water” draws hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people day and night. I've stood in front of that fountain in the heat of the desert, felt the refreshing coolness of its mist on my face, as though it's promising something better than the barrenness of the desert and the casinos. It's just a fountain, but standing there, reveling in its beauty, it strikes me as a shadow of Christ.
Jesus entered the world, a desert of human depravity.
Jesus entered the world, a desert of human depravity. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive Him. In John 4:7–26, we read the story of the woman at the well. He met her at noon, in the blazing sun. He asked her for a drink. She responded by reminding him of the religious and cultural barriers between them. There is no record that she gave him a drink. But he offered her real living water, not the shadow of the Bellagio fountain. The living water he offered satiates spiritual thirst forever. It wasn't H2O he offered her, but the Holy Spirit.
It wasn't an offer exclusive to her. He did, and still does, offer an inexhaustible supply of living water to all people. “On the last day of the great feast in Jerusalem, Jesus cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37–38).
Believers in Jesus not only receive living water, but in such abundance that out of our hearts will flow rivers of living water for others.
Did you catch that? Believers in Jesus not only receive living water, but in such abundance that out of our hearts will flow rivers of living water for others. Not a meager dribble, but a flowing river. No matter how dry your desert, no matter how barren, Jesus offers this living water to anyone who believes in him. And that living water will flow from believers and produce fruit.
On the cross, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said, in fulfillment of Scripture, “I thirst.” He thirsted so that we would never thirst again.
The story doesn't end with his death. On the third day, he rose from the dead. He is seated at the right hand of God, the Father almighty. Revel in the beauty of the true living water. All who believe will see the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. He is risen!
Liturgy
O God of Heaven, King of Earth,
We, on the earth, are parched and dry
seeds of death. Down deep we lie,
forever dust to be our fate
O Fount eternal, crucified.
O rock of ages who bled and died.
From your side came blood and water.
Please, Lord, cover our sin.
Please, God, wash and heal us.
Down from your throne does cleansing flow.
New life just sprouted, green shoots show.
With life and breath we finally breathe,
then with new breath, we praise the Trinity
Praise the Father, Lord of all.
Praise the Son who gives us life
and gives us power to turn from strife.
Praise the Spirit who dwells within us.
Praise the Trinity that makes the change:
waters of judgement never to see,
Water of life made our inheritance.
Amen