The Source of Living Water

 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4: 14

Are you a mountain or a beach person?

If you ask me, my answer, without hesitation would be, I am a beach person 100%. I'd take the ocean any time. But after discovering the amazing Great Lakes...I have to say, I'm good with them too. I'm even OK with small, man-made lakes. I'm telling you, I'm becoming soft in my old age, but as long as there's water as far as the eye can see, I'm good! The only problem with the Great Lakes, like Erie, for example, is that the water never warms up like the ocean water in a place like Panama. But...when the option is between a lake or nothing...I take the lake...no contest.

The mountains are OK, if there is a lake there. If there isn't any water...I'd probably not choose that location. I'm not much of a woodsy person. I'm definitely a beach bum. The thought of having to wear anything but sandals terrifies me...and talking from experience, flip flops are a total flop in the mud.  

Happiness to me is staring at the sea with my feet up...can't do that real well deep in the woods.

I guess that might be one of the reasons why I'm drawn to Bible passages that mention water, like John 4: 14. The image of Jesus going to the well, having a divine appointment with the Samaritan woman and then telling us, through that conversation with her that He will give us a water that will become a spring in us is just magnificent to me. It is fascinating to think that I could do more than just stare at the water and marvel at its power and beauty...I could actually have a spring of water in me! WOW! Simply mindboggling.

But...could this possibly be? Could I...me... a wreck of a woman...be worthy of not only drinking His water so I could not thirst anymore, but also of being someone from whom a well of water can spring out? I am so not worthy.

However, Jesus is saying it. Who am I to disbelieve?

Sometimes our insecurities and lack of self-value can take us into roads we really shouldn't travel. I don't want to fall for the trap of the enemy that incites me to a false sense of humility that only leads to not trusting the very words of My Lord and Savior. I don't want to go there.

I really like what Oswald Chambers had to say about this passage in his devotional, My Utmost for His Highest yesterday.  He said that we can, indeed, be people from whom the waters of eternal life spring out. He wrote,

Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.

Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, “But I don’t see the rivers”? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.

And that's the key...

It's not about who we are, whether you are a beach person or a mountain person, a cat person or a dog person, an accomplished person or a wreck...it is about staying close to Jesus, the Divine Source of Living Water.  If we stay near Christ, we carry the water with us everywhere!

It's about staying steadily true to Him.

I don't want to be thirsty anymore.  I don't want to be exhausted in my pursuit of what really doesn't matter.  I want to stay close to Jesus...and stay true to Him through it all.  May the Power of the Holy Spirit lead us to a state of nearness to Our Lord where we can be assured the Living Waters will just flow from within us as we put our feet up and contemplate His Mighty work in total awe.  Amen!