I have always been blessed with access to good water – from well water, city water and those times I was able to have spring water.
It is hard to put into words the feeling of drinking a cool glass of water when you are thirsty.
We are very blessed in most of Appalachia to have excellent water. With rivers and lakes, wells and springs, it seems we have more than enough water to drink, water our gardens and enjoy the great outdoor recreation we have in our area.
But it is not this way everywhere. Parts of the United States and many areas of our world are in a drought. The U.S. drought is not limited to one state and is scattered around – but especially drastic – in the West, Midwest and South. Large cities in California, Texas, Utah and Florida are having to conserve water, and look for other sources as reservoirs and rivers dry up. These regions are looking at a hotter and drier future with little relief in sight.
Water was always a concern to people in the Bible. The land was arid and water was needed for life and livestock.
Abraham and Issac dug wells and had to protect them from marauders. Moses had to seek God’s help and provided water from a rock for the Israelites in the desert. When one of Caleb’s daughters was given land, she asked her father for springs of water and Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
She was one smart lady.
The prophet Elijah told King Ahab there would be a drought. Elijah was able to drink from a brook but when it dried up, God sent him to a town and he saved the life of a woman and her son there. After three years of drought and famine, Elijah prayed and the drought ended.
In the Gospel of John, Chapter 4 – while traveling through Samaria – Jesus stopped at Jacob’s well. A woman arrived with her water jar to draw water. A thirsty Jesus asked her for a drink of water.
Breaking down barriers, Jesus had a conversation with the woman (the church later gives her the name, Photini) and tells her about the living water that only comes from him.
The woman misunderstands and thinks Jesus is talking about fresh, running water. Jesus is talking about the spiritual water that quenches the thirst of the human soul for the divine. The woman shared she knows the Messiah is coming to tell all things about God.
Jesus responds, “I am He.”
Brian Wren wrote a hymn on some of the women in the Gospels Jesus encountered. Of the woman at the well he writes: “Woman at the well, question the Messiah; find your friends and tell: drink your heart’s desire!”
With the living water that comes from Jesus, we can drink to our heart’s desire.
Our Earth will still suffer from droughts and water, made unsafe from pollution and chemicals. Yet, the living water will still be available to all who seek it.
For with grace God sends, “rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.”
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.