When I was growing up I remember singing a song that had these words in it: “Heartaches, broken people, ruined lives are why you died on Calvary. Your touch is what I long for. You have given life to me.” I thought of the essence of this song’s message as I read and reread Jesus’ interaction with this woman at the well.
Here’s why. After speaking to her in verses 13 and 14 about drinking one kind of water and the certainty of getting thirsty again, and about drinking another kind of water and the certainty of never getting thirsty again, He instructs her to go call her husband. Why would He do that? What does her husband have to do with her thirst? What does Jesus know about her? About us?
Well, He knows that she, like we, all experience on some level and to some degree what the song lyrics point to – heartaches, brokenness, and ruin. And He knows that, like the woman at the well, we are a people who carry around hurts, disappointments, and regrets. (Anyone who has been through what this woman has most likely been through – the pain of divorce or the loss of a spouse – can attest to this.) And because of that, we, like she, thirst for wholeness, healing, acceptance, and a love that will never leave us. In other words, we thirst for “water” that will leave us in a place where we won’t ever get “thirsty” again. Fortunately, we have access to that water, for we have access to Jesus and His Spirit.
Emmanuel Faith, the encouragement from the Scriptures today is to either receive, by faith in Him, the living water that He offers or to remind ourselves that we already have in Him all that we will ever need to quench our thirst, whatever that thirst may be. And the challenge today is simply this: Drink Deeper.
Scott Smith
Care Pastor