John 4.13-14 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks
of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but 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.”(ESV)
I read an interesting book once in which the author made
the case that the Samaritan woman in John 4 was not a woman of ill-repute* – go figure, it was men who came up with
this idea in the first place… However, the woman was a Samaritan, and the narrative indicates that Jews had nothing
to do with Samaritans because Samaritans were (to them) mutts: half-breeds. So,
the conversation Jesus had with her was important because That Jew helped her to see there was more to life than race, ancestral
heritage, and territory.
The issue of life Jesus addressed with her was quenching
a thirst in her for truth, meaning, purpose, and relationship with God forever.
In my bible (the ESV these days) there is a
footnote in verse 14 referencing how this was spoken in Greek: “…but whoever
drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, forever.” Forever is not in most modern translations. Jesus told the Samaritan-tress,
He’d take care of her thirst – her real thirst – forever and ever. “Lady”, He said, “you’ll never be thirsty again, forever.” Never forever is a long
never.
I thought about me when I read this, and I thought of my
own thirst. Jesus was laying out for her some very foundational info and as I
read it, I thought about my own thirst. According to Jesus, anyone who drinks the water He will give
never thirsts again forever. But how that is played out in actuality is, at
least for me, another reality. (Or at least I think so.)
Where I fall down is when I focus on me and my limitations rather than Him and His un-limitations. The water He gives is truth and is
immune to drought of any kind – ever. I have to believe that; I have to drink
it. I have to believe that or else I’m forced to believe that in my own
limitations my thirst continues. Jesus
flatly denies that.
Granted, what I think is part of who I am but for the
woman, and for me, Jesus is bringing in new information that leads to
transformation: “Lookit guys, life ain’t
what you all think it is, it’s what I say it is, and My water will quench your
thirst forever. Your thirst will be never, forever!” Which leads me to come
back to the basics: in Him, I am changed forever
whether I see that change or not. My change is like everything else with
Jesus: by faith in what He says is
true.
His words changed her and in my present moments they’ve
has changed me – I just need to be reminded that my thirst is never forever. I
am no longer thirsty because that need has been dealt with. I am however hungry
for more of this because the world and my own reality rubs up against it and my
salvation is an on-going process.
Lord Jesus, Big Brother, thank You for dealing with my
thirst, and thank You for taking care of my hunger. Help me in my faith-walk
today to remember that these needs that I think I have are, in You, finished;
and they now stand in the category of Never-Forever. Amen!
*See Jesus for Adults, by Linda Rios Brook, Destiny Image
Publishers; 1 edition (November 1, 2006); (Pgs.: 120-124)
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