In Need of Living Water

The weather has been very hot lately; and as someone whose personal preference is cool weather, I find cold water important to have around. Sometimes though, even as I keep drinking water, the heat takes its toll. Chilling in the heat, I know my body needs to rehydrate and cool off. It can be easy to take clean water for granted where the turn of a handle gives that in a reliable fashion of varying temperatures. Yet, water is a necessary liquid for our bodies to function. Found in cells, tissues and organs, water allows our body to function properly in varying temperatures and is a large portion of our physical makeup.

Visiting the Des Moines Botanical Garden, I walked to the waterfall at one end of the outdoor gardens. The sun was hot, my hands were hot, there wasn’t a sign saying don’t touch; so my hand went into the waterfall. I was splashed with droplets and felt the cooling impact where the moisture landed. Wonderfully refreshing, it took a measure of self-control to not just remove my tennis shoes and opt for a stroll through the pool in front of the falls.

Water to nourish, to cool, to bring life to arid places; indeed a liquid necessary for life. Then, there is this living water referred to in John 4. Living water, a self-replenishing gift, is offered. The liquid that is necessary for our physical life to continue is found in the well. The living water found in Christ is offered freely, as a gift, drawn from his well spring that never runs dry. It is not the refreshment from the heat of the day that it offers; but healing from the burns of the world.

 Jesus answered her, “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