Names of Christ: Who Do You Say That I Am?

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)  The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)  Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”  The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?  Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”  Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” 

John 4:7-14

Our recent rains have reminded me just how important water is to our world.  Following those showers, my lawn has grown a couple of inches and my garden has sprung to life.  Water truly is life-giving.  In this passage from John, we are reminded that Jesus is Living Water; not for our physical health or to quench some temporary dryness in our mouth.  Jesus is Living Water that brings life to our dry places.  When we “drink” of this water, we are given a life that is marked with growth and abundance.  Jesus is the type of Living of Water that quenches the spiritual thirst in our life.

This passage also reminds me of one of my favorite camp songs:

I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me,

Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see;

Opens prison doors and sets the captives free.

Oh, I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me.

 

Spring up, O well, within my soul.

Spring up, O well, and make me whole.

Spring up, O well, and give to me

That life abundantly.

Today, may we seek to fill our cups with Jesus, the Living Water, so that the parched places of our lives are quenched and we can live a life full of growth and love.

Prayer

Holy God, thank You for seeking us out and offering us life abundant and eternal with You.  May we respond to Your gracious invitation and share Your love with others, Amen.