Pause for thought
The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
(Psalms 27:1)
Bible Reading: John 4:9-11, 13-14
The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
A Reflection:
As Helen and I have moved around the country we have noticed differences in the water supplies. In Norfolk the water is hard, it forms little lather and plenty of limescale. In Sheffield, drawing water from Derbyshire, it is soft, forms plenty of lather and little limescale. Northamptonshire water seems to be somewhere between the two. The best, though, was when we lived in Tewkesbury and collected water that was welling up from the springs around the Malvern Hills. This water was soft, sweet and with no ‘notes’ of Chlorine.
Water is essential for life and when the supply is cut, either through a burst water main, a drought or a well that dries up, it causes problems. Indeed some predict that the availability of water could become the focus of major world conflicts in the future.
In his encounter with the woman at the well, Jesus uses the supply of water to talk about the deeper needs that we all have as human beings. Apart from our physical needs, we have emotional needs and spiritual needs; we all need a sense of wellbeing. I wonder what the things are in your life that meet your deeper needs, that give you a sense of wellbeing.
The people from the town in Samaria needed to draw water from the well every day in order to quench their thirst, and there was always the possibility that one day the well would run dry. I wonder if the things that satisfy you today will continue to satisfy you tomorrow and into the future, or will they eventually run dry?
The life that Jesus offers us will satisfy the deepest longings of our souls, it will give us a true sense of wellbeing whatever life throws at us, and it will satisfy us, not just in this life but in the life to come. Jesus told the woman at the well that this water is a gift from God. Let us make sure that we accept his gift and drink from the well that will never run dry.
Pray:
Thank you Lord for the gift of eternal life that you freely give and that meets my deepest needs. May your living water well up in me and bring life to others.
Amen
As the deep pants for the water