The BeatitudesPrimjer

Like a River

Written By: Danny Saavedra

“But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”—John 4:14 (NLT)

I drink a lot of water—over 100 ounces per day, actually. Living in South Florida, where the heat and humidity never take a day off, you have to make sure you’re keeping yourself hydrated. But what I’ve found is that even with the substantial increase in water consumption, thirst doesn’t go away. You’d think drinking that much water, I’d never ever be thirsty . . . but I am, and seemingly more often. Strange right?

In John 4:13–14 (NLT), Jesus confirms this while also teaching the most valuable lesson we can ever learn, saying, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

No matter how much of this water we drink, our bodies will always adjust and become thirsty again—never fully satisfied, never fully quenched—because, as Boyz II Men would say, eventually this water runs dry. We’re always going to have to go back to the well—or in our case, the cooler, fountain, or fridge—to replenish. And we’ll have to continue to do so on a regular basis.

And while Jesus was using the water from Jacob’s well as a literal example to explain the body’s constant need for new water, His words can also apply to our lives in terms of the things we seek to fill the vessel of our souls with . . . things like work, appearance, status, entertainment, relationships, sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling, even religiosity and ritual. We soon find out; however, that all of these things—just like the water from the well—dry up and fail to truly fill the thirst in our hearts that can only be satisfied and quenched by Jesus!

If we drink from the water only Jesus can give, we’ll never be thirsty again. You see, the living water of Christ becomes an ever-flowing spring in us; it never runs dry and never stops flowing. And even more amazing, when this spring of eternal life begins to flow freely from our lives, others can drink from it, too! So today, I want to encourage you, believer. No matter how dry things seem, you always have access to the ever-flowing grace, love, peace, and power of the Lord Jesus. So let the spring within you run like a river!

DIG: Read John 4:1–42 and 7:37–39.

DISCOVER: Why do you think Jesus used water so often to teach about spiritual and eternal things?

DISPLAY: Today in your prayer time, thank the Lord for the living water within you and ask for a fresh outpouring from your life into the lives of those around you. Ask God to search your heart for any obstructions in the spring that may be keeping it from flowing out so they may be removed.