Mensa Otabil - Jesus, The Living Water
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We continue our study of John chapter four, Jesus’s conversation with a woman at the well. Jesus explains that he is truly the living water. John chapter 4, verses 13 and 14: Jesus answered and said to her, «Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.»
So, Jesus is continuing his explanation of what the living water is about, and he is going into more details to help this woman understand the kind of water he is offering her. The water that the woman is fetching from the well requires a lot of work and hard labor in the sun, but Jesus pointed out that the water he gives will not require her to go up and down to fetch it; rather, it will be within her and will bubble out from her constantly. He’s drawing a contrast between true salvation and false salvation. True salvation is based on our efforts-our works, trying to be good, trying to be kind, and trying to be generous as we seek to please God-but the salvation that Jesus Christ offers us comes from God’s grace.
It begins with the Holy Spirit coming to live in us, empowering us for the life of Christ within us. Whereas the woman was working for the water, Jesus says that what he gives to her will be a work of God’s grace in her life; it will bubble out of her. There is a difference between what we can make of our lives and what God makes of our lives. The things we create in our lives are based on our own efforts. Jesus says to the woman, «Whoever drinks of the water in this world will thirst again, but what I give you satisfies you forever.»
There are things we can do to attain temporary fixes and temporary satisfaction for our souls, but the only thing that provides us with permanent satisfaction and fulfillment is that which God himself gives us. This woman had been going up and down to find water, but Jesus says, «I’m going to give you something that does not require daily topping off or constant fetching.»
St. Augustine, in his Confessions, prayed, «Oh Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.» God has made us for himself, and there is an emptiness in every human being that only God can satisfy. People try to fill that emptiness with many things. Some try to fill it with knowledge, accumulating education, thinking it will satisfy the emptiness within their souls. Some try to fill it with money, while others pursue pleasure, enjoying everything worldly, believing that will satisfy their souls.
However, the hunger in the human soul cannot be filled simply through education, money, or pleasure; it is a hunger created by God, and only God can fulfill that hunger. That is what Jesus is pointing out to this woman: there is something in your heart that you are longing for, and the only one who can provide it is the one talking to you, the Son of God. I pray that each one of us finds that true living water that only Jesus Christ offers.
You may try your best to find satisfaction in life, but if you are truly honest, you would know that there is no real satisfaction. True satisfaction comes when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, and he pours out his living water through us. May you find the living water that he offers.
Let us pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, you have made us for yourself. Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.» In Jesus’s name, amen and amen. May you find the true peace that Christ gives us. I am Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.