JULY 21, 2014
Water
For The World
Read: John 4:7-15
He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his
heart will flow rivers of living water. —John 7:38
Although
70 percent of the world is covered by water, less than 1 percent of it is drinkable
by humans. Water conservation and sanitation are crucial matters in many parts
of the world, as all life depends on having sanitary water.
Jesus
went out of His way to introduce a lost woman to another kind of life-giving
water. He deliberately chose to go to a town in Samaria, a place where no
respectable rabbi would set foot. There, He told this woman about “living
water.” Those who drink of it, He said, “will never thirst.” It will “become in
him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).
The
living water is Jesus Himself. Those who receive Him have eternal life (v.14).
But the living water He provides also serves another function. Jesus said of
those who receive it: “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (7:38).
The living water that refreshes us is to refresh others also.
As
fresh-water distribution is uneven in the world, so too is the distribution of
living water. Many people do not know followers of Jesus who really care about
them. It is our privilege to share Him. Christ is, after all, the living water
for whom people are thirsting.
Lord Jesus, I want to
live for You. May Your
life and love flow
through me as I go about my
duties today so that
others may see You through
me and be drawn to the
living water.
Jesus is a
never-ending supply of living water for a parched world.
Insight
The
stories of Nicodemus (John 3) and the woman at the well (John 4) are found side
by side in scripture, yet there is great contrast between them. Contrary to
Nicodemus, the woman at the well recognized that Jesus was offering something
that she could not do without. Nicodemus’ last words to Jesus were, “How can
these things be?” (3:9). The woman simply responded, “Sir, give me this water”
(4:15).
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
