Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Whosoever drinks of this water means whoever drinks the literal well water she came to draw, which can quench thirst only for a time and cannot keep it from returning or meet the deepest need of the soul. In contrast the water Jesus gives quenches thirst forever and satisfies the craving of mind and heart, becoming in the receiver an inner well springing up into everlasting life and blessing to others. That living water is Christ Himself, His grace and life given in His Word and by His Spirit, received by hearing, believing and living His truth until it becomes part of heart and life. It is not gained by a single draught but by drinking continually and daily through union with Christ, for He is an inexhaustible fountain whose supply is never reduced however much is drawn. Whoever truly drinks becomes a giver in turn, for the thankful heart overflows and the inner fountain cannot be shut up but must be freely imparted to lead other thirsting souls to Christ.
Encounter at Jacob's Well
Jesus spoke these words to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well near Sychar, answering her appeal to Jacob's well and her questions where He had living water and whether He was greater than Jacob who gave the well. The water of that well quenches thirst only for a time, in contrast to the water He gives which quenches thirst forever and becomes within a well springing up into everlasting life.
It followed His request, Give me to drink, and her objection that a Jew should ask drink of a Samaritan, a class the Jews thoroughly despised. He surprised her by asking both because He wanted a cool draught and to open the way to give her the water of life, and His mission work there commenced with that talk at the well. It was spoken with positive authority, not guessing, in perfect harmony with its subject, among His many invitations of mercy and goodness that cut away doubt and questioning whether God will hear prayer and give mercy, grace, favor, and salvation.
It was given because her heart was open to receive truth, showing Him ready to instruct every open heart, revealing the Father and the service acceptable to Him who reads the heart, speaking plainly with no parables and directly declaring Himself to be He. It belongs to His earnest and eloquent personal ministry to one soul, neglecting no opportunity to reach a single soul, proclaiming the gospel of salvation to one woman of Samaria at Jacob's well. He shared this important teaching with an individual, not only with gathered crowds, giving personal instruction to a woman others despised because He recognized her receptive spirit, the woman at the well of Sychar to whom He opened precious truths.
He did this work with consciousness of more than human greatness for results infinite in scope yet in humble places among humble people, entering their lives with sympathy enlisted for the needy, the suffering and the despised, which drew many to Him. The plan was that He should not appear in accordance with His divine character and exalted station but should come as a poor man down to the very lowest depths of human suffering and poverty, so His voice might be heard by the burdened and disappointed and so He might reveal Himself to the weary, sin-sick soul as Restorer, desire of all nations and Rest-giver, speaking just as truly to those longing for rest and peace today as to those who listened then.
It belongs to His work among the Samaritans, where though a Jew He crossed customary barriers, set at naught Pharisaic customs and prejudices, and mingled freely with them. He accepted the hospitality of this despised people, slept under their roofs, ate at their tables of food prepared and served by their hands, taught in their streets, and treated them with utmost kindness, courtesy and human sympathy. His human sympathy and social kindliness drew their hearts to Him and recognized the dignity of humanity, and His divine grace brought them the salvation rejected by many Jews, showing His grace was not limited by race or nation and that people beyond Israel could receive salvation and hunger for light and truth. Their souls were thirsty, and His words fell upon them with blessed, life-giving power, awakening new impulses and opening to these outcasts of society the possibility of a new life, so that men longed to become worthy of His confidence.
He found in the Samaritan woman a receptive heart though she was a sinner, giving her the precious lessons and truth of His kingdom and finding a place for that truth in her heart. She accepted Christ without seeing miracles because she believed His word, welcomed the light and shared it with her neighbors, in contrast to scribes and Pharisees who would not receive what He came to give and were like old dried-up skin bottles that could not hold the new wine of His kingdom. He made new bottles to hold that new wine when He received her, when He called Matthew the publican and when He called the fishermen, showing those who never heard the truth have hearts more susceptible and open than those long in the truth who excuse unbelief despite evidences of God's work.
The encounter led her to leave her waterpot, share the light received, and bring her people to Jesus, showing that meeting the Saviour can move a person to share Him with others. Her joy and urgency showed she longed for the spiritual gift more than the water she came to draw. Her testimony led many Samaritans to investigate and believe, for Jesus used this conversation to reach her and through her many Samaritans, and those same words have continued to exert influence for the saving of souls through the years.
This Water Thirsts Again
This water is the literal water of the well she had come to draw, Jacob's well and the well at Sychar, and whoever drinks it will thirst again because ordinary water can quench or satisfy thirst only for a time and cannot keep thirst from returning or meet the deepest need of the human heart permanently. In contrast to the lasting gift described in the next verse, it relieves thirst temporarily while the living water satisfies the craving of mind and heart and becomes a continuing source of strength and grace for every need unto everlasting life. The well is a parable of the contrast between ordinary water and Christ the Fountain of Life, for to drink this water is to seek to quench thirst at the fountains of this world, and he who does so will drink only to thirst again. Everywhere men are unsatisfied and long for something to supply the need of the soul, which only One can meet, the desire of all nations, whose divine grace alone is as living water purifying, refreshing and invigorating the soul.
It shows how worthless are the hopes of this world, for earthly blessings however great or numerous, earthly gifts and mere temporal provision can never satisfy the mind, cleanse the soul, or give lasting spiritual and permanent satisfaction. People need the water of salvation rather than merely temporal provision, and freely receiving God's grace through Jesus brings genuine Christian experience that shapes mind and character and leads to service. Earthly possessions and sources of satisfaction cannot meet the soul's deepest need, and earthly wealth cannot provide the lasting peace and joy found in Christ. Human ambitions and inventions likewise cannot satisfy the soul, in contrast to the heavenly fountain, the water of life prepared at immense cost to meet the deepest thirst.
Salary, larger favors and other desired things are broken cisterns that hold no water, picturing all earthly supplies that cannot satisfy, for when the desire is granted hunger and thirst only grow greater and cry for more. Empty pleasures, exciting amusements and ordinary pleasures cannot satisfy the soul permanently, for the soul that seeks fulfillment or happiness in frivolous, sensual and exciting amusements will remain unsatisfied, hungry and dissatisfied and will continue to hunger and thirst for more. Drinking the living water turns the soul away from such pleasures, for its ennobling principles strengthen the mind, destroy the taste for them and remove the craving. Drinking earthly water leaves thirst returning, so selfish worldly principles and enjoyment, transient pleasures and indulgences, and worldly delights pictured as low and commonplace cannot satisfy, but are as muddy turbulent streams giving only transient temporal artificial satisfaction. Lasting satisfaction is found only in hungering and thirsting for the bread of life and the water of salvation, and he who has drunk the pure fountain through true communion with God under the molding influence of the Holy Spirit has no relish for those streams but reveals a preference for better things.
It shows the thirst that returns when the soul drinks only outward religion, for keeping religion in practice far from the soul temple leaves faith not truly in Jesus and brings great loss to the unconverted professor. The living water is the religion of Christ in the heart as a wellspring of life, received by inviting the heavenly Guest to occupy the throne of the soul to control every impulse of the mind and bring even the thoughts into subjection. It shows a spiritual thirst for the water of salvation that false theories leave unsatisfied, for to thirst is to have a longing desire for a healthy faith joined with hungering for the bread of life. The murky water of the valley represents an unhealthy alternative to life-giving water, in contrast to the water of life the Lord longs for people to drink. Ordinary sources of spiritual refreshment, human channels and turbid streams, cannot satisfy the soul, and those who drink from them will thirst again, so the soul should turn to Christ the living source rather than to human channels. What a person gives the thirsty soul to drink shapes that experience, and people's spiritual thirst is reason to open the Bible to them so they may receive its light and blessing.
The soul needs more than temporal food and drink, needing the living water found in Christ and received through the truth of Scripture, nourished by God's word as the bread and water of life. That living water quenches the desire to have one's own wisdom regarded as superior. Those who depend on God receive grace sufficient for needs while hungering and thirsting for the bread of life and the water of salvation. Failing to receive that living water leaves people vulnerable to the pleasure-loving spirit of the age, and without soul-thirst for righteousness they turn to what cannot satisfy. Closeness to Christ deepens hunger and thirst for righteousness, while those who lack this spiritual thirst turn instead to pleasures and broken cisterns that cannot satisfy.
Living Water Satisfies Forever
In contrast to well water that quenches thirst only for a time, the water Jesus gives ends thirst forever, satisfies in a lasting way the craving of mind and heart and the soul's deepest need, and becomes in the receiver an inner source, well and fountain springing up into everlasting life and continual blessing and refreshment to others. That lasting gift is not merely a single satisfying draught but union with Christ bringing a continuing source of strength and grace for every need, producing righteous words and deeds, the joy and hope of the gospel, and life leading to everlasting life.
That living water is Christ Himself, divine grace purifying, refreshing, strengthening and invigorating the soul. It is the revelation of His grace in His Word, His Spirit and teaching and love, the truth of the Word of God taken in by drinking from Christ, His life-giving words, and God's Word believed, lived, meditated on, practiced and obeyed until it becomes a vital part of heart and life. So received it sustains spiritual life, gives health and vigor, purifies the soul through obedience, produces fruits of the Spirit and Christlike character, and satisfies the soul. Everywhere unsatisfied men long for something to supply the need of the soul, and only One can meet that want, for the need of the world is Christ, whose divine grace alone imparted is as living water, while whoever partakes of Him will never hunger and never thirst.
That living water is the Holy Spirit to be received from God and then communicated to those seeking truth. Asking for it from Christ who gives it freely brings an inward source of life springing up to everlasting life and refreshing others, and the Saviour's invitation applies to seeking Christ and receiving the Spirit's saving work, grace and possession of the heart. Workers in the solemn work for souls must first receive the Spirit themselves and then speak in the power of the Spirit rather than by human might, and each person may receive it but self must die.
Receiving it is not receiving one draft only, for people must keep drinking the water of life. It is a continuing source through union with Christ from which a person may drink repeatedly, and the soul can return to Him again and again for comfort and help, with abundance remaining and no danger of exhausting the supply. That living water can be continually drawn from its fountain without reducing or diminishing its supply.
Christ is that living spring and inexhaustible well-spring of truth ever since the fall of Adam, who knows the necessities of every soul and supplies spiritual refreshment to the oppressed, languid, parched and fainting. However much is drawn and given to others abundance remains, and He has withheld His grace and love from no member of the human family but has an inexhaustible supply for each, in contrast to earth's cisterns often emptied and pools become dry. He was that living water to Abel, Seth, Enoch and Noah and all who received His instruction then just as truly as now to those who ask Him for the refreshing draft. Through His Son God has supplied His chosen in every age with precious truth as the river of God and with dews and showers of grace, leading them invisibly as He led Israel in the wilderness and assuring them by the rainbow covenant that seedtime and harvest will remain and the world will never again be destroyed by a flood. These blessings are often overlooked while men take glory to themselves and forget that Pentecost and every harvest of souls is not present labor alone but sowing by patriarchs, prophets and holy men, for like rain unseen until it falls and often wholly unexpected, grace is often nearer than thought, and faith and patient waiting bring surprising help as the woman was surprised, for He comes down like showers upon the fruitful earth.
His proffering of the water of life at Jacob's well fulfills the Eden promise that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, provides a remedy for humanity's need, and continues until every soul has been tested and tried. He is the smitten Rock and the Rock that follows, a river of water in a dry place, and the living Rock. Anxious and troubled souls are invited to come to Him because He understands them, and drinking of His water brings refreshment, and people receive it by speaking to Christ and asking Him. He is the fountain of living water for fallen humanity to whom all who thirst may come and drink, and men are urged to come and drink freely of that life-giving stream, receive what Christ gives, and share it with others. The stream offers consolation and nourishment from God's word, and people hunger and thirst for the Bread of life and Water of salvation.
The woman first understood His words as a promise of water that would spare her the effort of drawing water, but she did not yet grasp their spiritual meaning; she later recognized her sin and believed in Jesus. Her joy and urgency show she longed for this spiritual gift more than the water she had come to draw, and she left her waterpot to share the light she had received. Christ looked beneath the surface and revealed her soul thirst, arousing her moral nature and awakening her to her higher need. Her natural thirst led her to a thirst of soul for the water of life, which Christ alone can supply through the Father, and He offered her abundant supply for her soul's great need even though she had made no request, so that through words spoken to her the water of life would flow forth to many other thirsting souls.
Her apparent withholding of the well water represents many withholding from Him the recognition, sympathy, love, thanksgiving and fruit in good works that He hungers and thirsts for in response to His great love and the blood by which He purchased them, which cannot be withheld with safety. The living water is a secret spring in the bottom of the river that cures all manner of diseases and gives health and vigor with a fair and natural countenance. It is obtained only by plunging at a venture, and no one can obtain it for another, for each must plunge and drink for himself. To drink it means to hear and receive the message of truth given in the name of the Lord when preached. Some drink and others refuse to drink, and those who refuse remain filled with disaffection, follow a shameful course, miss the healing they might have had, and keep a harmful influence that they do not recover from.
To thirst is to have a longing desire for a healthy faith, joined with hungering for the bread of life. The words I thirst, I pant for living waters express a deep desire for God and for the life He gives, and learning in Christ is described as drinking that water. Drinking this spiritual water means feeding on Christ's words and taking in God's Word and the wellsprings of life; it satisfies spiritual thirst, leads to greater spirituality and less sentimentalism, and purifies the soul through obedience to the truth. When received, His words change human nature from darkness to light, dawning as the Light of life upon darkened understanding, more valuable than gold. Drinking that water brings a soul out of darkness into the light of the gospel into saving grace, giving peace and hope and joy in the Saviour that remains even in facing death and is of more value than the riches of the whole world, and this thirst is awakened and met through work for physical and spiritual healing and through daily worship with reading of the Word of God, singing of gospel hymns, and prayer.
Drink and Share Today
One draft is never enough; the water of life must be kept being drunk, drunk every day together with eating the bread of life every day. Not drinking daily leaves a person in the godless position of Sardis, while drinking daily fits a person for translation so that life will measure with the life of God. Ministers are to drink of it daily and be filled with the spirit of Jesus, because water from an earthly source satisfies thirst only temporarily while the water of life meets a deeper, continuing need.
In contrast to ordinary water that satisfies only temporarily, the water of life is received continually. The Holy Spirit's converting power is needed each day and brings spiritual renewal, forgiveness of sin, and a forgiving spirit toward those who cause harm. Daily receiving this life through Christ and prayerfully studying His words brings grace and strength as from an unfailing supply.
Receiving that life is not forced: God offers it, but each person must choose to take it and cooperate with Him. Each person may receive it, but self must die, for this water is linked to Christ's grace and to the Spirit of God taking possession of the heart. The heart emptied of self can be filled by the Holy Spirit with saving power. That experience calls for deeper sanctification — practicing God's Word, seeking unity, letting go of self, and holding fast to Christ — described as drinking a rich current of love.
Drinking calls for hearts subdued by the Spirit of God and an eye single to God's glory, and then a flood of heavenly light pours upon the soul. Its pure streams refresh and heal those who drink and refresh all connected with them. Ordinary water cannot satisfy permanently, but the living water Christ gives refreshes and heals the soul and brings that refreshment to others.
The thankful heart that receives it continually overflows in blessings to others, bringing an enduring spiritual experience rather than temporary satisfaction. Those who drink freely receive Christ within them as a well springing up to eternal and everlasting life. His presence and love make their words full of truth and grace so they can bless others and bring spiritual refreshment.
Once received it becomes an inner well springing up to everlasting life, the truth of the Word of God taken in by drinking from Christ by which those who have received Christ as personal Saviour are refreshed, warmed and invigorated. It is not to be shut up in seclusion for fear of contamination but is to be freely imparted to others as freely as it was received. Then speech becomes a help and blessing, a savour of life unto life, leading minds to God and sowing seeds of truth and righteousness that bear fruit.
The one who receives it becomes a giver and a missionary, a fountain of life to others. Those who have drunk from it should lead others to it, and this water brings the blessing of peace and joy in believing. Those whose souls thirst for this water and are quickened by the Lord's life and Spirit can impart it to others. Those who receive this living water through connection with Christ are renewed to share it with others, becoming living missionaries who bring spiritual blessing.
Receiving this gift is a privilege that should awaken concern to share the message of redeeming love with others, since ordinary water satisfies only temporarily while Jesus offers living water that satisfies the soul unto everlasting life. Those who drink this spiritual water receive Christ's life-giving words and have a work to share them with others. Through communion with God they receive strength to shine as a light and win souls.
Editors, Sabbath school teachers, conference presidents, and all who feed God's flock need to drink deep from that fountain of living waters and be worked by the Holy Spirit. Then they understand Christ's words, discern their own necessities and the wants of the people, and give real solid spiritual food that gives strength instead of common matter that gives no real strength to the churches, though many think they understand and drink while showing little evidence. Workers in the solemn work for souls must first receive the Spirit themselves and then speak in the power of the Spirit rather than working by human might, for that living water is the Holy Spirit to be received from God and then communicated to those seeking truth. Christ's ambassadors must drink that living water themselves and learn by experience to lean upon Christ and know where their strength lies before they can guide others to the fountain.
Ministers can share the water of life with others only when their own souls are quickened by the Lord's life and Spirit. Souls who serve in saving others must themselves drink deeply of the water of life. Ministers are to drink of it daily and be filled with the spirit of Jesus. Those who would refresh others who thirst for salvation must first drink of the water of life themselves. The water of life must be drunk by workers themselves if they would refresh souls thirsting for the water of salvation, and the Lord gives fitness for that work to those who drink.
The physician's own soul must be refreshed by drinking from this living source, so that he can lead others to Christ, who gives peace, forgiveness, hope, and salvation. Drinking deeply at the fountain means receiving Christ's life. Those who do can share messages of peace, comfort, and hope with others and help lead unsaved people to salvation.
Without deeper drinking the mind stays restless and falls into thinking a new phase of error is new light, gathering texts to support peculiar ideas and causing needless difference and division instead of harmony and solid anchoring experience. There is need to drink deeper of the Fountain of life in order to exert a saving influence in teaching truth. Drinking the water of life means receiving from God the strength needed to live and work with Him.
Drawing daily from the living fountain pictures receiving spiritual nourishment, and the call for fresh manna pictures giving hearers fresh spiritual teaching. A church that prays, seeks God daily, and pleads for His mercy is described as drinking the water of life that differs from ordinary water satisfying only temporarily.
Thirsting souls need to be led to the living water that does not leave them thirsting again, since drinking ordinary water leaves a person thirsting again. Leading them there is the soul-saving reason for pleading for sanitariums, and winning souls to Christ in this way is the object of sanitarium work. Jesus as giver of living water leads thirsty souls to lasting spiritual life, Christ is the source of that fountain, and people need to be led to Him.
God designs rich and poor, high and low to find that water of life with the bread of heaven and the bread from heaven. They are to find it through sanitariums established at much expense to save souls as well as to cure bodies. There the sick are separated for a time from harmful associations and surroundings and receive health-restoring treatments and wise instruction from Christian nurses and physicians, and are educated in right habits of living, spiritual and physical, so that many souls are saved and people from all churches are reached.
This calls not for expensive, mammoth institutions and never for building in a city, but for many small, homelike institutions in pleasant places out of the city. Renting in the city is only to start while seeking a suitable place outside. The sick are to be reached as lights shining in a dark place, whose workers reflect the sunlight of Christ's face and are as salt that has not lost its savor, so that by properly conducted work the influence of true, pure religion is extended to many souls.
People's spiritual thirst is a reason to open the Bible to them, so they may receive its light and blessing rather than thirsting again from ordinary water. Those same waters of salvation Christ spoke of are spoken again through His humble, faithful followers, who give to men the bread of life and the waters of salvation. This happens as they scatter truth-filled publications through towns and cities with humble prayer and unselfish work, bringing the truth as it is in Jesus to those who need it.
Christ uses the contrast between ordinary water that quenches thirst only temporarily and His eternal gift to turn attention from temporary gifts and temporal and bodily needs to eternal living water and eternal life that satisfies the soul. People need the water of salvation rather than merely temporal provision. They are urged to receive the fountain of life and living waters and to share them.
Drinking the living water turns the soul away from frivolous, sensual, and exciting amusements, while ordinary sources of satisfaction and pleasures that excite the senses leave the soul hungry, dissatisfied, and still hungering and thirsting for more. Its ennobling principles and the principles of religion strengthen the mind and destroy and remove the taste and craving for them. Those who drink lose taste for the low and commonplace and do not long for exciting amusements or change.
In suffering, Christ was presented as that life-giving water, quenching spiritual thirst and bringing comfort in contrast to ordinary water satisfying only temporarily. This living water refreshes the heart and gives life, strength, grace, and peace, which believers can share with those around them. It refreshes and heals the soul and brings refreshment to others connected with it, and it sustains through affliction.
Freely receiving God's grace through Jesus brings a genuine Christian experience that shapes the mind and character and leads to service for God, since earthly gifts cannot satisfy permanently. Through faith and pardon, the sin-pardoning Saviour gives the poor and destitute spiritual life and nourishment beyond what ordinary water can give. Drinking from this fountain means receiving divine life and grace, which strengthen a person and enable her to lead her children to the Water of life. Drinking is receiving the Lord's grace and power and following the Saviour, which a family can be led to share in.
The image of a cup of water shows how kind words and sympathy can help someone who feels thirsty or burdened, in contrast to ordinary water that quenches thirst only temporarily before thirst returns. The living water brings an enduring spiritual experience and the blessing of peace and joy in believing. Those who depend on God and hunger and thirst for the bread of life and the water of salvation receive grace sufficient for needs, and the water of life Jesus gives brings eternal riches. People may desire to receive it in richer and deeper measure. They are urged to come and drink freely of that life-giving stream, receive what Christ gives, and share it with others.
Whosoever drinks of this water means whoever drinks the literal well water she came to draw, which can quench thirst only for a time and cannot keep it from returning or meet the deepest need of the soul.
In contrast the water Jesus gives quenches thirst forever and satisfies the craving of mind and heart, becoming in the receiver an inner well springing up into everlasting life and blessing to others.
That living water is Christ Himself, His grace and life given in His Word and by His Spirit, received by hearing, believing and living His truth until it becomes part of heart and life.
It is not gained by a single draught but by drinking continually and daily through union with Christ, for He is an inexhaustible fountain whose supply is never reduced however much is drawn.
Whoever truly drinks becomes a giver in turn, for the thankful heart overflows and the inner fountain cannot be shut up but must be freely imparted to lead other thirsting souls to Christ.
Encounter at Jacob's Well
Jesus spoke these words to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well near Sychar, answering her appeal to Jacob's well and her questions where He had living water and whether He was greater than Jacob who gave the well. The water of that well quenches thirst only for a time, in contrast to the water He gives which quenches thirst forever and becomes within a well springing up into everlasting life.
It followed His request, Give me to drink, and her objection that a Jew should ask drink of a Samaritan, a class the Jews thoroughly despised. He surprised her by asking both because He wanted a cool draught and to open the way to give her the water of life, and His mission work there commenced with that talk at the well. It was spoken with positive authority, not guessing, in perfect harmony with its subject, among His many invitations of mercy and goodness that cut away doubt and questioning whether God will hear prayer and give mercy, grace, favor, and salvation.
It was given because her heart was open to receive truth, showing Him ready to instruct every open heart, revealing the Father and the service acceptable to Him who reads the heart, speaking plainly with no parables and directly declaring Himself to be He. It belongs to His earnest and eloquent personal ministry to one soul, neglecting no opportunity to reach a single soul, proclaiming the gospel of salvation to one woman of Samaria at Jacob's well. He shared this important teaching with an individual, not only with gathered crowds, giving personal instruction to a woman others despised because He recognized her receptive spirit, the woman at the well of Sychar to whom He opened precious truths.
He did this work with consciousness of more than human greatness for results infinite in scope yet in humble places among humble people, entering their lives with sympathy enlisted for the needy, the suffering and the despised, which drew many to Him. The plan was that He should not appear in accordance with His divine character and exalted station but should come as a poor man down to the very lowest depths of human suffering and poverty, so His voice might be heard by the burdened and disappointed and so He might reveal Himself to the weary, sin-sick soul as Restorer, desire of all nations and Rest-giver, speaking just as truly to those longing for rest and peace today as to those who listened then.
It belongs to His work among the Samaritans, where though a Jew He crossed customary barriers, set at naught Pharisaic customs and prejudices, and mingled freely with them. He accepted the hospitality of this despised people, slept under their roofs, ate at their tables of food prepared and served by their hands, taught in their streets, and treated them with utmost kindness, courtesy and human sympathy. His human sympathy and social kindliness drew their hearts to Him and recognized the dignity of humanity, and His divine grace brought them the salvation rejected by many Jews, showing His grace was not limited by race or nation and that people beyond Israel could receive salvation and hunger for light and truth. Their souls were thirsty, and His words fell upon them with blessed, life-giving power, awakening new impulses and opening to these outcasts of society the possibility of a new life, so that men longed to become worthy of His confidence.
He found in the Samaritan woman a receptive heart though she was a sinner, giving her the precious lessons and truth of His kingdom and finding a place for that truth in her heart. She accepted Christ without seeing miracles because she believed His word, welcomed the light and shared it with her neighbors, in contrast to scribes and Pharisees who would not receive what He came to give and were like old dried-up skin bottles that could not hold the new wine of His kingdom. He made new bottles to hold that new wine when He received her, when He called Matthew the publican and when He called the fishermen, showing those who never heard the truth have hearts more susceptible and open than those long in the truth who excuse unbelief despite evidences of God's work.
The encounter led her to leave her waterpot, share the light received, and bring her people to Jesus, showing that meeting the Saviour can move a person to share Him with others. Her joy and urgency showed she longed for the spiritual gift more than the water she came to draw. Her testimony led many Samaritans to investigate and believe, for Jesus used this conversation to reach her and through her many Samaritans, and those same words have continued to exert influence for the saving of souls through the years.
This Water Thirsts Again
This water is the literal water of the well she had come to draw, Jacob's well and the well at Sychar, and whoever drinks it will thirst again because ordinary water can quench or satisfy thirst only for a time and cannot keep thirst from returning or meet the deepest need of the human heart permanently. In contrast to the lasting gift described in the next verse, it relieves thirst temporarily while the living water satisfies the craving of mind and heart and becomes a continuing source of strength and grace for every need unto everlasting life. The well is a parable of the contrast between ordinary water and Christ the Fountain of Life, for to drink this water is to seek to quench thirst at the fountains of this world, and he who does so will drink only to thirst again. Everywhere men are unsatisfied and long for something to supply the need of the soul, which only One can meet, the desire of all nations, whose divine grace alone is as living water purifying, refreshing and invigorating the soul.
It shows how worthless are the hopes of this world, for earthly blessings however great or numerous, earthly gifts and mere temporal provision can never satisfy the mind, cleanse the soul, or give lasting spiritual and permanent satisfaction. People need the water of salvation rather than merely temporal provision, and freely receiving God's grace through Jesus brings genuine Christian experience that shapes mind and character and leads to service. Earthly possessions and sources of satisfaction cannot meet the soul's deepest need, and earthly wealth cannot provide the lasting peace and joy found in Christ. Human ambitions and inventions likewise cannot satisfy the soul, in contrast to the heavenly fountain, the water of life prepared at immense cost to meet the deepest thirst.
Salary, larger favors and other desired things are broken cisterns that hold no water, picturing all earthly supplies that cannot satisfy, for when the desire is granted hunger and thirst only grow greater and cry for more. Empty pleasures, exciting amusements and ordinary pleasures cannot satisfy the soul permanently, for the soul that seeks fulfillment or happiness in frivolous, sensual and exciting amusements will remain unsatisfied, hungry and dissatisfied and will continue to hunger and thirst for more. Drinking the living water turns the soul away from such pleasures, for its ennobling principles strengthen the mind, destroy the taste for them and remove the craving. Drinking earthly water leaves thirst returning, so selfish worldly principles and enjoyment, transient pleasures and indulgences, and worldly delights pictured as low and commonplace cannot satisfy, but are as muddy turbulent streams giving only transient temporal artificial satisfaction. Lasting satisfaction is found only in hungering and thirsting for the bread of life and the water of salvation, and he who has drunk the pure fountain through true communion with God under the molding influence of the Holy Spirit has no relish for those streams but reveals a preference for better things.
It shows the thirst that returns when the soul drinks only outward religion, for keeping religion in practice far from the soul temple leaves faith not truly in Jesus and brings great loss to the unconverted professor. The living water is the religion of Christ in the heart as a wellspring of life, received by inviting the heavenly Guest to occupy the throne of the soul to control every impulse of the mind and bring even the thoughts into subjection. It shows a spiritual thirst for the water of salvation that false theories leave unsatisfied, for to thirst is to have a longing desire for a healthy faith joined with hungering for the bread of life. The murky water of the valley represents an unhealthy alternative to life-giving water, in contrast to the water of life the Lord longs for people to drink. Ordinary sources of spiritual refreshment, human channels and turbid streams, cannot satisfy the soul, and those who drink from them will thirst again, so the soul should turn to Christ the living source rather than to human channels. What a person gives the thirsty soul to drink shapes that experience, and people's spiritual thirst is reason to open the Bible to them so they may receive its light and blessing.
The soul needs more than temporal food and drink, needing the living water found in Christ and received through the truth of Scripture, nourished by God's word as the bread and water of life. That living water quenches the desire to have one's own wisdom regarded as superior. Those who depend on God receive grace sufficient for needs while hungering and thirsting for the bread of life and the water of salvation. Failing to receive that living water leaves people vulnerable to the pleasure-loving spirit of the age, and without soul-thirst for righteousness they turn to what cannot satisfy. Closeness to Christ deepens hunger and thirst for righteousness, while those who lack this spiritual thirst turn instead to pleasures and broken cisterns that cannot satisfy.
Living Water Satisfies Forever
In contrast to well water that quenches thirst only for a time, the water Jesus gives ends thirst forever, satisfies in a lasting way the craving of mind and heart and the soul's deepest need, and becomes in the receiver an inner source, well and fountain springing up into everlasting life and continual blessing and refreshment to others. That lasting gift is not merely a single satisfying draught but union with Christ bringing a continuing source of strength and grace for every need, producing righteous words and deeds, the joy and hope of the gospel, and life leading to everlasting life.
That living water is Christ Himself, divine grace purifying, refreshing, strengthening and invigorating the soul. It is the revelation of His grace in His Word, His Spirit and teaching and love, the truth of the Word of God taken in by drinking from Christ, His life-giving words, and God's Word believed, lived, meditated on, practiced and obeyed until it becomes a vital part of heart and life. So received it sustains spiritual life, gives health and vigor, purifies the soul through obedience, produces fruits of the Spirit and Christlike character, and satisfies the soul. Everywhere unsatisfied men long for something to supply the need of the soul, and only One can meet that want, for the need of the world is Christ, whose divine grace alone imparted is as living water, while whoever partakes of Him will never hunger and never thirst.
That living water is the Holy Spirit to be received from God and then communicated to those seeking truth. Asking for it from Christ who gives it freely brings an inward source of life springing up to everlasting life and refreshing others, and the Saviour's invitation applies to seeking Christ and receiving the Spirit's saving work, grace and possession of the heart. Workers in the solemn work for souls must first receive the Spirit themselves and then speak in the power of the Spirit rather than by human might, and each person may receive it but self must die.
Receiving it is not receiving one draft only, for people must keep drinking the water of life. It is a continuing source through union with Christ from which a person may drink repeatedly, and the soul can return to Him again and again for comfort and help, with abundance remaining and no danger of exhausting the supply. That living water can be continually drawn from its fountain without reducing or diminishing its supply.
Christ is that living spring and inexhaustible well-spring of truth ever since the fall of Adam, who knows the necessities of every soul and supplies spiritual refreshment to the oppressed, languid, parched and fainting. However much is drawn and given to others abundance remains, and He has withheld His grace and love from no member of the human family but has an inexhaustible supply for each, in contrast to earth's cisterns often emptied and pools become dry. He was that living water to Abel, Seth, Enoch and Noah and all who received His instruction then just as truly as now to those who ask Him for the refreshing draft. Through His Son God has supplied His chosen in every age with precious truth as the river of God and with dews and showers of grace, leading them invisibly as He led Israel in the wilderness and assuring them by the rainbow covenant that seedtime and harvest will remain and the world will never again be destroyed by a flood. These blessings are often overlooked while men take glory to themselves and forget that Pentecost and every harvest of souls is not present labor alone but sowing by patriarchs, prophets and holy men, for like rain unseen until it falls and often wholly unexpected, grace is often nearer than thought, and faith and patient waiting bring surprising help as the woman was surprised, for He comes down like showers upon the fruitful earth.
His proffering of the water of life at Jacob's well fulfills the Eden promise that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, provides a remedy for humanity's need, and continues until every soul has been tested and tried. He is the smitten Rock and the Rock that follows, a river of water in a dry place, and the living Rock. Anxious and troubled souls are invited to come to Him because He understands them, and drinking of His water brings refreshment, and people receive it by speaking to Christ and asking Him. He is the fountain of living water for fallen humanity to whom all who thirst may come and drink, and men are urged to come and drink freely of that life-giving stream, receive what Christ gives, and share it with others. The stream offers consolation and nourishment from God's word, and people hunger and thirst for the Bread of life and Water of salvation.
The woman first understood His words as a promise of water that would spare her the effort of drawing water, but she did not yet grasp their spiritual meaning; she later recognized her sin and believed in Jesus. Her joy and urgency show she longed for this spiritual gift more than the water she had come to draw, and she left her waterpot to share the light she had received. Christ looked beneath the surface and revealed her soul thirst, arousing her moral nature and awakening her to her higher need. Her natural thirst led her to a thirst of soul for the water of life, which Christ alone can supply through the Father, and He offered her abundant supply for her soul's great need even though she had made no request, so that through words spoken to her the water of life would flow forth to many other thirsting souls.
Her apparent withholding of the well water represents many withholding from Him the recognition, sympathy, love, thanksgiving and fruit in good works that He hungers and thirsts for in response to His great love and the blood by which He purchased them, which cannot be withheld with safety. The living water is a secret spring in the bottom of the river that cures all manner of diseases and gives health and vigor with a fair and natural countenance. It is obtained only by plunging at a venture, and no one can obtain it for another, for each must plunge and drink for himself. To drink it means to hear and receive the message of truth given in the name of the Lord when preached. Some drink and others refuse to drink, and those who refuse remain filled with disaffection, follow a shameful course, miss the healing they might have had, and keep a harmful influence that they do not recover from.
To thirst is to have a longing desire for a healthy faith, joined with hungering for the bread of life. The words I thirst, I pant for living waters express a deep desire for God and for the life He gives, and learning in Christ is described as drinking that water. Drinking this spiritual water means feeding on Christ's words and taking in God's Word and the wellsprings of life; it satisfies spiritual thirst, leads to greater spirituality and less sentimentalism, and purifies the soul through obedience to the truth. When received, His words change human nature from darkness to light, dawning as the Light of life upon darkened understanding, more valuable than gold. Drinking that water brings a soul out of darkness into the light of the gospel into saving grace, giving peace and hope and joy in the Saviour that remains even in facing death and is of more value than the riches of the whole world, and this thirst is awakened and met through work for physical and spiritual healing and through daily worship with reading of the Word of God, singing of gospel hymns, and prayer.
Drink and Share Today
One draft is never enough; the water of life must be kept being drunk, drunk every day together with eating the bread of life every day. Not drinking daily leaves a person in the godless position of Sardis, while drinking daily fits a person for translation so that life will measure with the life of God. Ministers are to drink of it daily and be filled with the spirit of Jesus, because water from an earthly source satisfies thirst only temporarily while the water of life meets a deeper, continuing need.
In contrast to ordinary water that satisfies only temporarily, the water of life is received continually. The Holy Spirit's converting power is needed each day and brings spiritual renewal, forgiveness of sin, and a forgiving spirit toward those who cause harm. Daily receiving this life through Christ and prayerfully studying His words brings grace and strength as from an unfailing supply.
Receiving that life is not forced: God offers it, but each person must choose to take it and cooperate with Him. Each person may receive it, but self must die, for this water is linked to Christ's grace and to the Spirit of God taking possession of the heart. The heart emptied of self can be filled by the Holy Spirit with saving power. That experience calls for deeper sanctification — practicing God's Word, seeking unity, letting go of self, and holding fast to Christ — described as drinking a rich current of love.
Drinking calls for hearts subdued by the Spirit of God and an eye single to God's glory, and then a flood of heavenly light pours upon the soul. Its pure streams refresh and heal those who drink and refresh all connected with them. Ordinary water cannot satisfy permanently, but the living water Christ gives refreshes and heals the soul and brings that refreshment to others.
The thankful heart that receives it continually overflows in blessings to others, bringing an enduring spiritual experience rather than temporary satisfaction. Those who drink freely receive Christ within them as a well springing up to eternal and everlasting life. His presence and love make their words full of truth and grace so they can bless others and bring spiritual refreshment.
Once received it becomes an inner well springing up to everlasting life, the truth of the Word of God taken in by drinking from Christ by which those who have received Christ as personal Saviour are refreshed, warmed and invigorated. It is not to be shut up in seclusion for fear of contamination but is to be freely imparted to others as freely as it was received. Then speech becomes a help and blessing, a savour of life unto life, leading minds to God and sowing seeds of truth and righteousness that bear fruit.
The one who receives it becomes a giver and a missionary, a fountain of life to others. Those who have drunk from it should lead others to it, and this water brings the blessing of peace and joy in believing. Those whose souls thirst for this water and are quickened by the Lord's life and Spirit can impart it to others. Those who receive this living water through connection with Christ are renewed to share it with others, becoming living missionaries who bring spiritual blessing.
Receiving this gift is a privilege that should awaken concern to share the message of redeeming love with others, since ordinary water satisfies only temporarily while Jesus offers living water that satisfies the soul unto everlasting life. Those who drink this spiritual water receive Christ's life-giving words and have a work to share them with others. Through communion with God they receive strength to shine as a light and win souls.
Editors, Sabbath school teachers, conference presidents, and all who feed God's flock need to drink deep from that fountain of living waters and be worked by the Holy Spirit. Then they understand Christ's words, discern their own necessities and the wants of the people, and give real solid spiritual food that gives strength instead of common matter that gives no real strength to the churches, though many think they understand and drink while showing little evidence. Workers in the solemn work for souls must first receive the Spirit themselves and then speak in the power of the Spirit rather than working by human might, for that living water is the Holy Spirit to be received from God and then communicated to those seeking truth. Christ's ambassadors must drink that living water themselves and learn by experience to lean upon Christ and know where their strength lies before they can guide others to the fountain.
Ministers can share the water of life with others only when their own souls are quickened by the Lord's life and Spirit. Souls who serve in saving others must themselves drink deeply of the water of life. Ministers are to drink of it daily and be filled with the spirit of Jesus. Those who would refresh others who thirst for salvation must first drink of the water of life themselves. The water of life must be drunk by workers themselves if they would refresh souls thirsting for the water of salvation, and the Lord gives fitness for that work to those who drink.
The physician's own soul must be refreshed by drinking from this living source, so that he can lead others to Christ, who gives peace, forgiveness, hope, and salvation. Drinking deeply at the fountain means receiving Christ's life. Those who do can share messages of peace, comfort, and hope with others and help lead unsaved people to salvation.
Without deeper drinking the mind stays restless and falls into thinking a new phase of error is new light, gathering texts to support peculiar ideas and causing needless difference and division instead of harmony and solid anchoring experience. There is need to drink deeper of the Fountain of life in order to exert a saving influence in teaching truth. Drinking the water of life means receiving from God the strength needed to live and work with Him.
Drawing daily from the living fountain pictures receiving spiritual nourishment, and the call for fresh manna pictures giving hearers fresh spiritual teaching. A church that prays, seeks God daily, and pleads for His mercy is described as drinking the water of life that differs from ordinary water satisfying only temporarily.
Thirsting souls need to be led to the living water that does not leave them thirsting again, since drinking ordinary water leaves a person thirsting again. Leading them there is the soul-saving reason for pleading for sanitariums, and winning souls to Christ in this way is the object of sanitarium work. Jesus as giver of living water leads thirsty souls to lasting spiritual life, Christ is the source of that fountain, and people need to be led to Him.
God designs rich and poor, high and low to find that water of life with the bread of heaven and the bread from heaven. They are to find it through sanitariums established at much expense to save souls as well as to cure bodies. There the sick are separated for a time from harmful associations and surroundings and receive health-restoring treatments and wise instruction from Christian nurses and physicians, and are educated in right habits of living, spiritual and physical, so that many souls are saved and people from all churches are reached.
This calls not for expensive, mammoth institutions and never for building in a city, but for many small, homelike institutions in pleasant places out of the city. Renting in the city is only to start while seeking a suitable place outside. The sick are to be reached as lights shining in a dark place, whose workers reflect the sunlight of Christ's face and are as salt that has not lost its savor, so that by properly conducted work the influence of true, pure religion is extended to many souls.
People's spiritual thirst is a reason to open the Bible to them, so they may receive its light and blessing rather than thirsting again from ordinary water. Those same waters of salvation Christ spoke of are spoken again through His humble, faithful followers, who give to men the bread of life and the waters of salvation. This happens as they scatter truth-filled publications through towns and cities with humble prayer and unselfish work, bringing the truth as it is in Jesus to those who need it.
Christ uses the contrast between ordinary water that quenches thirst only temporarily and His eternal gift to turn attention from temporary gifts and temporal and bodily needs to eternal living water and eternal life that satisfies the soul. People need the water of salvation rather than merely temporal provision. They are urged to receive the fountain of life and living waters and to share them.
Drinking the living water turns the soul away from frivolous, sensual, and exciting amusements, while ordinary sources of satisfaction and pleasures that excite the senses leave the soul hungry, dissatisfied, and still hungering and thirsting for more. Its ennobling principles and the principles of religion strengthen the mind and destroy and remove the taste and craving for them. Those who drink lose taste for the low and commonplace and do not long for exciting amusements or change.
In suffering, Christ was presented as that life-giving water, quenching spiritual thirst and bringing comfort in contrast to ordinary water satisfying only temporarily. This living water refreshes the heart and gives life, strength, grace, and peace, which believers can share with those around them. It refreshes and heals the soul and brings refreshment to others connected with it, and it sustains through affliction.
Freely receiving God's grace through Jesus brings a genuine Christian experience that shapes the mind and character and leads to service for God, since earthly gifts cannot satisfy permanently. Through faith and pardon, the sin-pardoning Saviour gives the poor and destitute spiritual life and nourishment beyond what ordinary water can give. Drinking from this fountain means receiving divine life and grace, which strengthen a person and enable her to lead her children to the Water of life. Drinking is receiving the Lord's grace and power and following the Saviour, which a family can be led to share in.
The image of a cup of water shows how kind words and sympathy can help someone who feels thirsty or burdened, in contrast to ordinary water that quenches thirst only temporarily before thirst returns. The living water brings an enduring spiritual experience and the blessing of peace and joy in believing. Those who depend on God and hunger and thirst for the bread of life and the water of salvation receive grace sufficient for needs, and the water of life Jesus gives brings eternal riches. People may desire to receive it in richer and deeper measure. They are urged to come and drink freely of that life-giving stream, receive what Christ gives, and share it with others.