John 4:14 - Living Water.
John 4:14 - Living Water.
John 4:14 (KJV) 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 4:14 (CWR) The water that I can give you is special. Once
you drink it, you'll never be thirsty again. It will constantly
bubble up inside of you like a fresh mountain spring, furnishing
eternal life.
CONTEXT: Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman: John 4:1-26.
The word Samaritan is used for the first time in the Bible in
the Book of Nehemiah. Almost three hundred years before Nehemiah's
time, the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered, and most of the
people were carried away captive (722 B.C.). Sargon of Assyria
repopulated Israel with captives from other lands. These captives eventually
intermarried with the few Israelites who remained in the land to form a mixed
race of people who became known as Samaritans. The Jews who returned
to Jerusalem and the southern region of Judea during the days of
Ezra and Nehemiah would have nothing to do with Samaritans, whom they
considered to be racially impure. Relations between both groups grew
progressively worse--four hundred years later, the Jews and Samaritans hated
each other (John 4:9). [The One Year Bible Companion re Neh. 4:1, 2]
Because Jesus was truly human, He experienced weariness, hunger,
and thirst, but His deepest desire was for the salvation of the
sinful woman. He forgot His physical needs and concentrated on her
spiritual needs. Patiently He revealed Himself to her: "a Jew" (v.9),
"greater than Jacob" (v. 12), "a prophet" (v. 19), "Messiah" (vv. 25,
29). She believed in Him, and her life was so changed that she
immediately shared the good news with others (20:30-31). [Chapter by Chapter
Bible Commentary by Warren Wiersbe re John 4]
APPLICATION COMMENTARY With Emphasis On Verse 14.
"WATER": Holy Spirit
"WELL": i.e. the indwelling Spirit. [Scofield SB]
This vivid image--"fountain of life" in Psa. 36:9--is a poetic
metaphor for God. It gives a sense of fresh, cleansing water that gives
life to the spiritually thirsty. This same picture is used in
Jeremiah 2:13, where God is called the "spring of living water." Jesus
spoke of himself as living water that could quench thirst forever and
give eternal life (John 4:14). [The One Year Bible Companion re Psa.
36:9]
The dry, burning sensation of thirst is one that most humans can
easily remedy. The wet refreshment of a tall glass of crystal-clear
water sends the most desperate of thirsts away. But it always comes
back. Jesus uses an eternal thirst-quenching water as a metaphor for
the hope, peace, and satisfaction God offers His children who enter
into a relationship with Him. It's water satan can't overpower. [The
365 Daily Promise Bible By Barbour re John 4:14]
The woman mistakenly believed that if she received the water
Jesus offered, she would not have to return to the well each day. She
was interested in Jesus' message because she thought it could make
her life easier. But if that were always the case, people would
accept Christ's message for the wrong reasons. Christ did not come to
take away challenges, but to change us on the inside and to empower
us to deal with problems from God's perspective. [Life Application
SB]
He who seeks to quench his thirst at the fountains of this world
will drink only to thirst again. Everywhere men are unsatisfied. They
long for something to supply the need of the soul. Only One can meet
that want. The need of the world, "The Desire of all nations," is
Christ. The divine grace which He alone can impart, is as living water,
purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul. Jesus did not convey the
idea that merely one draft of the water of life would suffice the
receiver. He who tastes of the love of Christ will continually long for
more; but he seeks for nothing else. The riches, honors, and pleasures
of the world do not attract him. The constant cry of his heart is,
More of Thee. And He who reveals to the soul its necessity is waiting
to satisfy its hunger and thirst. Every human resource and
dependence will fail. The cisterns will be emptied, the pools become dry;
but our Redeemer is an inexhaustible fountain. We may drink, and
drink again, and ever find a fresh supply. He in whom Christ dwells
has within himself the fountain of blessing,--"a well of water
springing up into everlasting life." From this source he may draw strength
and grace sufficient for all his needs. DA187
He who is a believer in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to
satisfy him now, and to content him for evermore. The believer is not
the man whose days are weary for want of comfort, and whose nights
are long from absence of heart-cheering thought, for he finds in
religion such a spring of joy, such a fountain of consolation, that he is
content and happy. Put him in a dungeon and he will find good company;
place him in a barren wilderness, he will eat the bread of heaven;
drive him away from friendship, he will meet the "friend that sticketh
closer than a brother." Blast all his gourds, and he will find shadow
beneath the Rock of Ages; sap the foundation of his earthly hopes, but
his heart will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord. The heart is as
insatiable as the grave till Jesus enters it, and then it is a cup full to
overflowing. There is such a fullness in Christ that he alone is the
believer's all. The true saint is so completely satisfied with the
all-sufficiency of Jesus that he thirsts no more--except it be for deeper
draughts of the living fountain. In that sweet manner, believer, shalt
thou thirst; it shall not be a thirst of pain, but of loving desire;
thou wilt find it a sweet thing to be panting after a fuller
enjoyment of Jesus' love. One in days of yore said, "I have been sinking
my bucket down into the well full often, but now my thirst after
Jesus has become so insatiable, that I long to put the well itself to
my lips, and drink right on." Is this the feeling of thine heart
now, believer? Dost thou feel that all thy desires are satisfied in
Jesus, and that thou hast no want now, but to know more of him, and to
have closer fellowship with him? Then come continually to the
fountain, and take of the water of life freely. Jesus will never think you
take too much, but will ever welcome you, saying, "Drink, yea, drink
abundantly, O beloved." [Morning and Evening by Charles H. Spurgeon]
The picture Our Lord gives is not that of a channel but a
fountain. 'Be being filled,' and the sweetness of vital relationship to
Jesus will flow out of the saint as lavishly as it is imparted to him.
If you find your life is not flowing out as it should, you are to
blame; something has obstructed the flow. Keep right at the Source,
and--you will be blessed personally? No, out of you will flow rivers of
living water, irrepressible life. We are to be centres through which
Jesus can flow as rivers of living water in blessing to everyone. Some
of us are like the Dead Sea, always taking in but never giving out,
because we are not rightly related to the Lord Jesus. As surely as we
receive from Him, He will pour out through us, and in the measure He is
not pouring out, there is a defect in our relationship to Him. Is
there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything that
hinders your belief in Him? If not, Jesus says, out of you will flow
rivers of living water. It is not a blessing passed on, not an
experience stated, but a river continually flowing. Keep at the Source,
guard well your belief in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him,
and there will be a steady flow for other lives, no dryness and no
deadness. Is it not too extravagant to say that out of an individual
believer, rivers are going to flow? 'I do not see the rivers,' you say.
Never look at yourself from the standpoint of--'Who am I?' In the
history of God's work you will nearly always find that it has started
from the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but the steadfastly true
to Jesus Christ. [My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers]
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Even when God asks us to do certain things, it's really an
invitation to receive greater things from Him. Jesus asked the woman for a
drink of water so He could offer her a drink of living water.[Life
Principles SB By Charles Stanley re John 4:10]
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38.
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Grace Notes:
http://www.e-gracenotes.org/index.php
A Better Way to Live:
http://www.itiswritten.com/betterway/
Excellent Spiritual Resource Site:
http://www.christianlifemediacenter.com/
More Spiritual Resources:
http://www.aBible.com
