In a Dry Land - March 14 Readings: John 4, Jesus is Living Water

The Story of the Bible from Creation to the Cross to Eternal Glory

In 72 daily readings, we will examine the overall story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, seeking to get the big picture of God's work through Jesus Christ in this sinful world.

Today's Reading:  John 4

Through the Bible Readings: Deuteronomy 5-6, Mark 13:1–23, Psalm 35:7–13, Proverbs 8:19-21

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Context 

Each of the Gospels has a specific theme. Matthew is about Jesus as King, for instance. John's theme, seen from verse 1 on, is Jesus as the word of God, God in a human body. There are more references to the divinity of Christ in John than in any other gospel and possibly any other NT book.

From chapter 4 through 15 there are 7 "I Am" statements of Jesus. These have two key meanings behind them. First of all, the Hebrew name of God, Yahweh, is built on the Hebrew word "I am." When Jesus continually claimed the phrase, "I am" he was laying claim to divinity, to being Yahweh, the self-existent God of Heaven. Each of these phrases also refers to the basic needs of the human soul. As God in a human body, Jesus provided for us everything we need. He gives us the water of life, the bread of life, light, guidance, life itself, access to God.

Jesus is the Great I Am who provides us every real need in this life and the next.

Today, we look at a statement that, while not technically one of Jesus' seven "I Am" statements is clearly in the same vein. He asserts himself as the well of living water who satisfies the human soul's thirst. Beginning tomorrow, we will examine the Seven I AM statements on consecutive days.

Devotional: In a Dry Land

Israel is a dry land.

I noticed something on my two trips to Israel, besides my intense desire to return to the Promised Land. I noticed that everything about life in that desert land is about water. The people there use every drop of water that God sends them. They do not use sprinklers to water gardens, because spraying water into the air wastes precious drops. In ancient Israel there wells and cisterns and aqueducts and various water delivery systems. Life was about finding and storing water for people, for crops, and for livestock. There was no life without water and it was not easy to find.

Perhaps this puts the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman in context. They were not discussing some kind of philosophical or theological thirst for knowledge. They were discussing life, the need for the water that made life possible. When Jesus described a well of water that would spring up she was not thinking of the spiritual implications and applications. She was a woman in a hot place thinking of cool water quenching her thirst.

Life in Israel is about water - finding it and using it wisely. What a powerful message for us. Jesus is our well of living water inside those who have been born again, a life-giving well in the desert of sin in which we live. As life in Israel was about finding water, our lives are about finding Christ. We cannot live long without water and we have no eternal or abundant life without Jesus Christ. He quenches the thirst in our souls.

I have been hungry. It isn't pleasant, but you can forge ahead through times of hunger. Thirst is all-consuming. When you need water you cannot function properly and you think of little else but your need for water. "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs for you," said the Psalmist.

That is what you and I need. There is no solution for a thirsty person but water and for you and I, there is no solution to the deep thirst in our souls but Jesus Christ, the well of living water deep inside us.

Father, I thank you for Jesus who wells up within me as living water. 

Think and Pray:

Do you view Jesus as an option in your life, someone extraneous and unnecessary, or do you thirst for him as a deer pants for streams of water?