The event at the well

You have just read the verse where Jesus says that when He gives us water, we will never be thirsty again. How is this possible? The verse is taken from John 4, where Jesus is sitting at a well and a Samaritan woman comes along to fetch water. In the culture of the time, this woman is firstly despised simply because she is a woman. She also experiences isolation because she is a Samaritan, people who at the time were hated by the Jews. She does not come to draw water with other women, which was the custom of the time. She comes alone because she has been shunned by others. She also comes in the middle of the day when it is hot outside, and nobody wants to be on the streets. Lastly, she has a less than acceptable private life.

Jesus asks her for water to drink - He was human after all. The woman immediately senses that this is going to be no ordinary day. It is unthinkable that a Jewish man would speak to her, let alone ask a favour. He then tells her that if she knew who it was who was speaking to her, she would ask him for living water. She finds this rather amusing, asking Him where He thinks He is going to get this water as he does not even have a bucket and rope to draw water from the well. Jesus though, has other water in mind. He provides living water, which when people taste it for the first time, is unlike any other water they have ever drunk and which will quench their first forever. He provides Life!

She asks Him to give her that water, reasoning that if she has it, she will never have to come and draw water from the well again. That is not what Jesus meant. He asks her to go and call her husband - He wants both the woman and her husband to receive the water that He gives, at the same time. She tells him that she has no husband. He immediately tells her that she is right. She is not married, and this is the sixth in a series of live-in lovers she has had. She is shocked that He knows so much about her. Jesus is God and He knows everything about your life!

The devil's evil works

The devil does not want you to submit to your desire by accepting Jesus because he is the enemy and opposes everything God is. The deceiver, as he is called, does not want you to experience God’s Love. The devil comes only to steal, kill and destroy, according to John 10:10. The writer is quoting Jesus' own words here. Jesus continues this by stating that He counteracts the works of the devil - while the devil robs people of their happiness, He came so that we may have eternal life and have it in more abundance.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

How do I realise that I need Jesus?

Are you happy with your situation today? Maybe you have lost everything you owned. It could be material things, family, health, or your job. Maybe you realise just how isolated you are, like the woman at the well. You may be reading this today while you are feeling desperate. We do not know what your situation is, but you do. Even if you do not fully understand your own need, Jesus does.

Have a look at just how much we are separated from the love of God:

We must first understand what happened a long time ago, that resulted in man’s need for a Saviour.

1. From the beginning, after the Fall of man, all men (women too, obviously) are corrupted, are in sin and cannot meet God’s standards for holiness. Despite His Love for us, sin prevents that Love from taking hold in our lives. What happened? Adam and Eve had the chance to live in Eden forever. Everything was put in place for them. However, from the very beginning the devil, who was in the same garden disguised as a serpent, had a plan that has proven to be very effective, even today. This is deception. The devil deceives, not by telling a total lie, but by subtly feeding a lie into what could have been a truth. He asked Eve if it was true that God said that they could not eat the fruit from the tree that God had told them not to. The devil came with a cunning question and Eve was not sure how to answer. So she made the wrong choice:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. Genesis 3:6-7

2. The act of even a small misdeed by one person resulted in everyone else thereafter being guilty of the same. The consequence is that man simply cannot be good. To this day there is no one that has inherent good in them, not even you, even if you religiously follow the rules. However, in the same way one person's actions caused the downfall of man, so through one Person the sin of man can be undone.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19

3. Our hearts are filled with sin, whether we believe it or not. It is true. Think of your own actions. Despite what we are willing to admit, we are naturally inclined to do the wrong thing.

There is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

4. We did not choose to be sinners. We were born as sinners. This is the unfortunate result of the fall of man.

Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people. Romans 5:12

5. We are dead in our sins, so dead in fact that we do not even realise it. Indeed, we often do things that are so utterly wrong that when we become believes and look back, we are shocked at what we have done. An unbeliever does not see it his way. For them everything is acceptable.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2:1

6. We are slaves to our sins, and we keep on sinning to feed the desire. What you have become a slave of is what you keep on doing. You have been caught in the devil’s snare and there does not seem to be a way out.

For when you were slaves to sin, you were free of obligation to righteousness. Romans 6:20

7. We are blinded to our sins by the devil so that we do not, or cannot, see our sin.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

8. We are disobedient and even if we try to live cleanly, we cannot. At best, we love to hide our sin in darkness so that nobody else sees it. At worst, we do it openly so that everybody else sees it.

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. John 3:19

9. We do not understand the holiness of God and therefore we cannot please Him.

Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:8

The points above are used with permission and a more detailed explanation can be found here. I thank the original author for allowing me to use information from his web site.

Do you realise that you have a need for the living water Jesus provides?

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