Living Water

"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.  Whoever believes in Me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  By this He meant the Spirit.

(John 7)

When Jesus spoke these words to the crowd gathered in Jerusalem, they would have understood the term 'living water'.   As you can imagine, in this region of the world sources of water held great value.  The area has a long rainy season starting after the fall harvest and carrying on into the spring, but much of the land is limestone and very porous.  The heavy rains are quickly drained away and lakes that were formed became like miry clay.  If you spoke to someone in Jesus' day about water, he would understand 'living water' to be water that had movement from streams, rivers or fountains.  It was fresh running water provided by the hand of God as opposed to water a man might collect and store in cisterns.  Cistern water had no movement or 'life' in it; it eventually would evaporate and become so stagnant and polluted it wasn't fit to drink.  'Living water' on the other hand gave a sense of bubbling up, gushing forth, flowing;  it's alive, active, moving, bringing refreshment to all who would drink of it!  It literally was life to people in this part of the world.  The Samaritan woman at the well in John's gospel understood it.  Remember how excited she got when Jesus spoke of living water.  "Give me this water", she said.  Jesus responded:

"Whoever drinks of the water that I give him shall never thirst;  indeed the water I give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."  (John 4)

The Jordan River in Israel is a good example of living water.  It has it's beginnings about 9,000 feet up in the heights of Mt. Hermon.  In the spring when the winter snows start to melt they descend very rapidly into the Jordan River.  The River in Jesus' day was hundreds of miles long; it twisted, turned and moved, entering in on the north side of the Sea of Galilee, coming out on the south end of that Sea and then continuing on to its end, where it pours into the Dead Sea.  The Jordan River moved!  It was living water!

Where the River ends at the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the planet - about 1200 feet below sea level.  It is called the Dead Sea for a reason.  Roughly the size of the city of Los Angeles, it takes in about 6 1/2 million ton of fresh water each and every day.  Despite all that water flowing in, nothing lives there.  The Sea is unable to sustain normal marine life and the area surrounding it is desolate and harsh.  You see, in spite of receiving all this fresh water each day - life-sustaining, living water from the flowing Jordan River - the Dead Sea has no outlet.  The living water flows in...and goes nowhere.  The fresh water flowing in each day is never able to penetrate the salty surface of the Dead Sea; it just floats along the top of the Sea and in the scorching heat of the day it evaporates.  Jesus said:

"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink...Whoever believes in Me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive.  (John 7)

Look carefully at these words of Jesus.  When we belong to Him then from within me, within you, should flow streams of living water, bubbling up, gushing forth, flowing, with the idea of refreshment.  Alive, active, moving!  He pours in - and it flows out from us!  Oh, I do not want to be like the Dead  Sea, always receiving, letting this life-giving water skim across the top of my life, never penetrating the surface, never going deep, evaporating in the heat of the day.  If the streams of living water are flowing out of me as Jesus says they should, then there will be refreshment - not just for me but for all who come in contact with me.  It is after all 'living' water.

Psalm 1 says:  "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates both day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither."

Like a tree planted by streams of water - living water; a tree which allows the water to penetrate deeply into its roots, and then does not wither but produces fruit in season.

I had opportunity last fall to hike in the Judah Wilderness, a desolate place.  It was hot - 115 degrees - and we had just made a high ascent.  I was sweating and tired, trudging along and looking at the boots of the hiker in front of me.  I kept thinking 'just one more step' and then again 'one more step'.  Finally we came over the ridge and I saw this huge sparkling blue body of water; it shone like diamonds flitting across the surface.  I imagined people cresting that same ridge thousands of years ago in desperate need of finding living water; and then seeing that beautiful sight and thinking:  Oh, if I can just make it I will be alright; I will survive in this drought-ridden desert.  But when they came to the Sea seeking refreshment, seeking life, there was none; only death.  Here in the midst of this dry barren desert there is this large body of water which receives so much living water that never penetrates, never goes deep.  It's appearance says 'come' but its taste is only bitterness.  What a waste of the living water provided by the hand of God from the Jordan River.

I don't want to be like the Dead Sea.  I don't want to take all the Lord pours into my life and only let it skim the surface, never penetrating, never going deep.  I don't want to be like the Sea, appearing to offer refreshment for people going through the 'deserts' of life but offering nothing.  I don't want to settle for 'just enough' of His Holy Spirit - I want the streams that He says will flow out of me. 

 Oh Jesus, you are the giver of life - even in the desert; let me be a tree planted by the streams of living water, yielding fruit in season.  For your glory. Amen.