I love the story of the woman at the well. It has always been one of my favorite passages of scripture. But there has always been one verse that irked me, but most people consider it the most pivotal verse of the whole encounter. Jesus offers the woman “living water” and tells her “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst again.” Up until now this has been one of my least favorite statements that Jesus ever made. It felt to me to be an unfulfilled promise. Jesus said if we drink from Him we will never thirst again. I have drank from Him, I have put my faith in Him, but I still thirst. As I write this, I thirst. I thirst for God’s goodness and God’s wisdom. How can this be? How can I still be thirsty? Am I not truly saved? Have I not truly drank of the living water that Jesus has offered? Why am I thirsty God?!
Those were my real thoughts, even as recent as this year. As I started this theme of ‘seeking God,’ He has shed light on this verse for me. All I really had to do to understand this verse was to keep reading. Jesus says those who drink from Him will never thirst again, and then goes on to explain how and why we never thirst. Jesus said, “the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Putting your faith in Jesus does not cause you to stop needing or desiring Him. Taking a drink from Jesus does not mean you never have to take another drink. Jesus makes us this promise: drink from me and I will create in you an everlasting spring of water to satisfy your every need. God does not remove our need for water, He supplies us with all the water we will ever need. If you had 24/7 unrestricted access to water it is possible that you could live your life never experiencing thirst again. In order to do this you must constantly drink of that water. If you don’t drink then you will eventually experience thirst, but you know exactly where to turn to quench that thirst because you have an unlimited and unrestricted supply of water. This water supply does not eliminate your need to drink, but it does eliminate your search. You never have to wonder where your next drink will come from. You should never be dehydrated. And if you drink enough then you will never experience thirst again. This is what Jesus promises us in John 4:14. He does not say we will never need to drink again, but that he creates in us a spring that supplies our needs.
So what is this spring that is within us? Jesus gives us that answer a little later, in John 7:37. Jesus says, “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.’ Now this is said about the spirit whom those who believed in Him were to receive.” When we drink from Jesus, and believe in Him, a river flows from within us, which is the spirit. Jesus gives us the spirit to live within us and supply our soul with the water that it thirsts for. Jesus does not eliminate our need for Him, instead He gives us His spirit that is capable of filling all our needs. Let’s look back at the initial passage that started the theme for this month, Psalm 63. David says he thirsts for God as “in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” David thirsted for God in a time where it felt like God was absent. David felt as if he was in a dry season, and God was no where to be found. This is the type of thirst that Jesus says we never again have to experience. We never have to search for God in the manner that a thirsty person searches for water in a dry land. When we come to Jesus, put our faith in Him, and drink from His living water, His spirit fills us and lives within us. Thirsty? Turn to the spirit. Need a quick sip? Turn to the spirit. Your search for water is gone. You have the spirit of God dwelling within you!
Now the only question is this: how do we get a drink from the spirit? We know who we drink from, where it dwells, and why it is there, but how do we use it? This answer is the most simple answer yet. You ask. You ask for a drink, and the spirit of God will provide it. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7, “ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you… if you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” I do not believe this verse implies God will fill our every want. It does not mean if we ask for a new car that one will magically appear in our driveway. It does not mean if we ask Him for a promotion at work that we will get it. It does not mean that if we ask God to be successful that we will become prosperous. But God does promise us that He will satisfy our every thirst. He will fill us with His spirit and satisfy our soul’s every longing. If we seek God early, eagerly, and earnestly we will taste and see that He is good. He is all we need.
I want to look at one more verse to end things, Isaiah 58:11. It says this: “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” God is with you always. When we put our faith in Him, He puts a spring of water within us, which is His spirit. Turn to God and drink. God’s waters do not fail. Drink from Him and never thirst again.
