Are you thirsty?

One of my favourite stories in the Bible is the one about the woman at the well. You may or may not be familiar with the story . . . a woman goes to the village well to draw water. She is a Samaritan, who are not accepted by the Jews and are considered to be unclean. As she is filling her water vessel, just as she has done umpteen thousand times in the past, she has an encounter which will change her life forever . . .

There is a man sitting near the well, a Jew . . . and he asks her for a drink. Pretty simple so far, but then he makes an outrageous statement . . . he tells her that God can give her living water and that in partaking of it, she will never thirst again . . .

In a country which is hot and arid, and where water is seen as being a very precious commodity, and thirst a common complaint . . . this is a very bold statement to make. Living water . . . water which lifts the burdens of daily responsability and relieves the ache of thirst. Who would not want it???



Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. ~ John 4: 9-15

This Samaritan woman was probably searching for something that would help to quench the longings of her heart . . . fill her loneliness . . . fill the empty cistern of her heart . . . and here was this man, a stranger and an enemy to her people, offering her a gift which would do just those things . . . how incredibly amazing.



But it does not stop there . . . this is an offer which stands today, as it did back then. The Saviour's offer of living water is as clear and as pure now as it was way back then as he sat on the wall next to Jacob's well. His offer is not withheld because we are empty, broken or contaminated by a life stained with sin and the evils of modern day living. In fact . . . he thoroughly understands our condition, yours and mine . . . and the offer and promise of healing and forgiveness are still there. We, too, can drink from this well of living water and be forever refreshed. All we have to do is to accept his offer . . . and drink. Are you thirsty today? Come . . . drink.



Not quite the same thing . . . but are you hungry? (I can't promise you that you won't ever be hungry again though . . . but the pictures might make your tummy rumble a bit. )



In The English Kitchen today, Chicken, Asparagus and Potatoes in a Garlic Cream Sauce.