Here's the Story

One day, as Jesus was travelling about he became tired and thirsty. Not far away was a well where some women had gathered to collect jars of water. Jesus asked one of the women if he could have a drink. The woman was astonished that Jesus was speaking to her because she was a Samaritan, and Jews and Samaritans did not get along and avoided one another. When the woman protested, Jesus offered a reply she did not expect to hear. He said ""Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." You can read this story in John chapter 4.

The narrative goes on to tell of their conversation and story ends with this sentence. "Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did."

What Was Really Going On Here?

This is a story about a lonely and troubled woman who was trying desperately to quench a spiritual and emotional thirst. There was no permanent satisfaction in the multiple relationships she had experienced. In fact, each time a relationship ended, she needed to go and find a new mate, hoping that this next man would meet all of her emotional needs.  Of course, this never worked and is the very reason that the poor woman was now into her sixth relationship. Jesus told her that she would never truly be satisfied until she drank the kind of water that He had for her.

Can Anyone Relate?

If we're all really honest I'm sure we would each have to admit that our lives mirror this woman's in many ways. All of us, at one time or another, have turned to something in order to quench our emotional thirsts. The list of activities that people participate in, in order to self medicate and ease the pain is long and varied. Some are obvious; sex, drugs, alcohol, pornography and even smoking. But there are many other ways people try to cover over their thirst that in and of themselves are not bad, but end up being so because they are  abused for self medication purposes none the less; sleep, eating, idolizing fame, success and wealth, and event indulging in massive amounts of entertainment. We think that maybe if we can keep our minds entertained, if the music can be played loud enough, maybe we can forget our hurt. Or possibly we find ourselves like the woman that Jesus confronted that day; involved in multiple relationships. These are just a few. The trouble with any of these is that they leave us feeling only thirstier, more empty and alone.

Why Jesus is Truly the Answer

Jesus offered this woman, and He offers you and me something so much more quenching and satisfying than where we have often gone. He offers us all "living water." And just like this woman would never be content going from relationship to relationship, so it is with you and I. These other activities will never, ever, give us what we really need or even want, it will always, (100% of the time) leave us emotionally and spiritually thirsty. Only when we decide to satisfy our thirst with the living water that Jesus offers us will we ever be truly satisfied. Why? Because Jesus is the author of life. He knows us intimately and therefore knows, as our architect, how to truly meet and satisify our needs and longings.

These other activities and passions have deceived us. They promised us things that they have never been able to deliver. I have found that before my conversion to Jesus, I "had to" keep crossing new lines, doing things I said I would never do. The lines became so blurred. While these different deeds may have been fun and enjoyable at the time, the thirst always returned and I was always left still thirsty, still looking for something that would work.

Proverbs 27:20 says: "Death and destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man."

Are you tired of being lied too? / Are you exhausted of going to a well of water that will only leave you thirstier to get your emotional needs met?

Are You Tired of Wasting Your Time, Energy and Money on Stuff That Ultimately Doesn't Work?

In Isaiah 55:1-3 we are all asked a couple of good questions by God.

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come; buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David."  (Isaiah 55:1-3).

If you're anything like me, I spent a lot on ridiculous things. A lot of time and energy wasted, hours, days, months, even years that I will never get back. Some of us have spent a lot of money too, all to drink something that would never satisfy us to begin with. What a waste. Do you not deserve better? God thinks so.

God calls out to you and me, and begs us to come to Him that our souls may live. What God offers is free. It will cost you nothing, and it is the only thing that will quench your hurts, fears and insecurities.

Are you ready for change? Please contact us and let us help you taste the difference between the pure, clean drinking water that Jesus is offering you, versus the polluted water that all of us have tried in order to quench our emotional and spiritual thirst. I guarantee you that the water he offers will indeed leave you feeling satisfied beyond belief.

Guy Hammond

Evangelist; Halifax-Dartmouth Church of Christ