MIF 12:4 (July-Aug 1980)
The Water Of Life
“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14).
Water — 330 million cubic miles of it cover 71 percent of the earth’s surface. Yet for centuries people in arid lands have perished for lack of this life-sustaining element. And thousands are daily passing into a Christless eternity because they have not taken the water of spiritual life that our Saviour offers so freely and abundantly.
The Lord Jesus Christ in talking to the woman at the well of Sychar, said that all who drink of that water shall keep on thirsting. The water from the well symbolizes fame, wealth, worldly pleasures, and the like, for which many thirst but are never satisfied. Therefore, their supply needs to be constantly replenished. But then Christ told her of the water He offers, the living water which can quench the spiritual thirst of a longing soul so that he or she will never thirst again.
In John 7:37 we find one of our Lord’s many invitations, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” He equates thirst with a spiritual need, and whoever acknowledges a need for pardon and forgiveness finds his need met with living water.
“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled,” said Christ (Matt. 5:6). In order to be filled we need only do two things: COME and DRINK. The invitation is for those who have sought satisfaction in worldly pursuits and have been disappointed because they thirsted for the wrong kind of water. For those whose souls are thirsting for living water and are willing to drink, our Lord’s invitation is clear: “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). To accept this invitation is to know the blessing that Jesus Christ alone can give to those who put their trust in Him.
—Arthur F. Wilder