Precious water

This past week, an artic air mass swept across the nation and overpowered our warm fall weather. Temperatures plummeted, with night time lows dipping into the low twenties. Here on the farm, we awakened to an unpleasant surprise. Water pipes, frozen in the well house, blocked the flow of precious water we take for granted.

This farmer girl, who knows better, forgot to install the heater into our pump house. In the dark, frigid morning, hubby and I bundled up and performed the much needed task. By lunch, our pipes had thawed and water again traveled to the house.

Thankful and blessed–the situation could have been much worse–broken pipes, plumber bills, and days without running water.

Water is precious

Water is a gift–a compound we must have to survive. We need clean water for drinking and a plethora of household tasks. It’s an extreme inconvenience to lose access to water (as all who’ve experienced a crisis such as a flood, tornado, earthquake, ice storm, etc. know).

In Chapter 4, of the Book of John, the author describes a meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan woman. Tired from his travels, Jesus stopped at Jacob’s well near Sychar, a town in Samaria. He asked a woman for a drink of water.

The Samaritan woman pointed out to Jesus that Jews and Samaritans seldom associate with each other. Jesus answered:

“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.” John 4:10

The Samaritan woman was confused. She reminded Jesus he lacked a bucket and the well was deep. Where would he get this living water?

Jesus replied:

“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.” John 4:13

This woman, chosen by Jesus as an early evangelist, left her water jar and raced to tell others what she had seen and heard. Many of the Samaritans from the town believed and recognized Jesus is the Savior of the world.

Living Water

Of course we must have water to live, and being without potable water is inconvenient for us who are blessed to have it. Trying to survive when potable water isn’t available is a tragedy many people experience on a daily basis. To learn more about the global water crisis and how to help, click here.

But Jesus was speaking of a different kind of water.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit of truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in Spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow through them.” John 7:37b-38

By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. John 7:39

Water and Living Water

I’m grateful for the gift of water from my well, for rain and snow to nourish our earth, and the bountiful blessings of rivers and oceans. But this gratitude is a tiny speck compared to the thanksgiving I experience when I reflect on the gift of living water, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life granted to believers.

But like the Samaritan woman, we are called to spread the word about Christ, our Savior. Can we, like this woman, race to tell others the Good News of Jesus?

As we approach the celebration of Christ’s birth, we also remember His destination. The cross sealed the promise of eternal life.