Liquid & Living Water

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”…“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”  - John 4: 10, 13-14 (NKJV)

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” - John 7:38 (NKJV)

I’ve been thinking a lot about water lately. My daughter and son-in-law are on wildfire alert in Southern California, as homes in their county and surrounding Los Angeles area are being consumed by the thousands. A shift in wind can quickly change their sky view from Carolina (or perhaps California) blue to smokey ash. 

Closer to home, stockpots and kettles of water throughout the Richmond area were recently boiled for brushing our teeth, washing our faces, and feeding & watering our pets. Thousands of gallons of drinking water were distributed throughout the city and surrounding counties, as grocery store shelves were depleted by those in need, greed and fear. 

Yeah, liquid water is a big deal. Those of us who have petitioned our Lord Jesus through days of prayer and fasting, know that three days, preceded by severe discomfort, is the length the body can go without water before beginning to shut down and perish. From cotton mouth to cramping, water is often the solution as our bodies thirst and cry out for relief. 

Our Lord Jesus was very familiar with water. He walked on it. He commanded sheets of it to stop falling on a boat full of frightened disciples, as He bellowed to the storm, “Peace! Be still!”  

He cried out for it on the Cross.

As Father, He made 3/4th of the earth out of it, and gave Moses the supernatural power to part it.

Yeah, liquid water is a big deal, BUT LIVING WATER is a bigger deal. As Jesus temporarily thirsted for liquid water, he explained to the broken woman he requested it from, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water… Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.”  

During both the California wildfires and Virginia water crisis, there was plenty of water. The demand for it in California neighborhoods overwhelmed the infrastructure and slowed fire hydrants to a trickle. 

An outdated infrastructure, and the grab-nabbing of drinking water by selfish individuals elevated anxiety and costs for others and Virginia municipalities. 

Undoubtedly on hot and/or heavy cardio days, I will still thirst for lots of liquid water. Praise God, however, that even when I thirst physically, my parched soul can always be quenched by the grace of Jesus Christ. For Jesus provides an endless supply of LIVING WATER, by allowing “rivers of water to flow out of a heart filled with the Holy Spirit.”  

Cheers and God bless,

Arnold Win Davis

Executive Director of Missions