I’m sure many of us have experienced being so thirsty that we desperately look for any liquid substance that can quench our thirst. I remember a time when I was so thirsty that I walked into the supermarket and picked a drink very quickly, walked to the till and started drinking the drink before it was my turn to pay. I was that desperate.
Where am I going with this?
In the book of John chapter 4 from verse 1-26 Jesus has a very interesting encounter with a Samaritan woman. Jesus had been journeying from Judea and stopped at a well where he meets the woman and asks her to give him water. The woman is greatly surprised that Jesus being a Jew is asking a Samaritan woman for water, being blind to what He is trying to show her.
In John 4:10
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
At this stage it is clear that the woman is confused and not understanding what Jesus is trying to communicate to her. She proceeds to ask trivial questions about the fact that he hasn’t brought anything along with him to gather the water.
In John 4:13-14
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 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.”
The Samaritan woman is finally curious about this water that will never allow her to thirst again however, Jesus proceeds to bring her attention to the fact that she has had 5 husbands and is currently with a man who isn’t her husband. This definitely highlights that there was something missing, which none of the five husbands were able to provide for her.
Many of us might be like the Samaritan woman, trying to use things such as our possessions, relationships and jobs to fill a void that only Jesus himself can fill with His gift of eternal life. As much as many of these things provide personal satisfaction, they can never compare and will never provide the sense of wholeness that an intimate relationship with Jesus can give. The more we realise that, the more we will make him the focal point of every area of our lives. Jesus himself says that everyone who drinks from the ordinary well will thirst again, meaning will continue to seek after things to satisfy their thirst.
Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
What are you thirsting after? It’s either going to be Jesus based or self-based. This is something I believe is worth reflecting on as we can be saved but sometimes get carried away with mundane things. We can ask God to change our desires and make them all about Him and we can choose to continue to draw from the well of eternal life. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could thirst after God as much we thirst for a glass of water?
What you focus on forms your desire, which then creates your passion.
Guest Contributor – Alessandra Oyeloba
