Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

John 4:14 (ESV)

There’s nothing more refreshing than an ice-cold cup of water on a hot day. Water is one of the many necessities of life. You literally cannot live without it for more than a certain number of days. So it’s plain to see that Jesus uses water as a metaphor for how He gives life to others.

In this passage, Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman at a well. Jesus explains to her that He provides everlasting water. It is a type of water that will make a person never thirst again. It is not physical water, but a spiritual type of water that provides salvation.

Every time we get thirsty, we must draw water from our sink faucet, refrigerator or buy it in bottles at a store. No matter what we drink, it only quenches our thirst for a short period of time. This is a constant, repetitive step in order to drink water and survive. It is a physical effort. However, Jesus promises that His water will become a permanent spring within the person.

By using this demonstration, Jesus is pointing out that salvation is neither obtained nor kept through works. For people back in Biblical days, scooping out water from a well requires work and it’s only temporary. The salvation Jesus offers is eternal and obtained only as a gift of grace from God.

Water saves our life because we can’t live without it. However, it is not the only temporary pursuit we have as people. There are many things we try to work for in order to fill the natural human longing for salvation, such as food, shelter, human companionship, and other things.

Our ultimate purpose is to know, serve and glorify God our Father, who created water, and other things we need in order to survive. Jesus is the living water we need to quench our thirst for eternal salvation. Only by relying on Him can we experience the satisfaction we crave on a daily basis.

Just like He did with the Samaritan woman, Jesus offers us His love. By accepting His gift, we too can experience His love which saves us.

This week, pray about how you want to drink the everlasting water Jesus offers. Spend time in His word to quench your thirst for eternal life.