The Gift and The Water

If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. (John 4:10)

Sometimes I am amazed at how dull I am. But praise God that He is faithful and keeps opening my mind to see things that maybe should be obvious. But because of years of trained filtering that prevents me from perceiving things differently than what I am used to seeing, it sometimes takes more time to become aware of very important links and insights that may be very easy for others to catch.

I am aware that John wrote this gospel by selecting the stories in it very intentionally for very specific purposes. This is not just a nice collection various stories about Jesus' life that John put together to add to the previous gospels. John wanted to reveal some deep, fundamental truths about God that are vital for us coming to know God very personally. So he put together stories that focused on these important concepts and presented them in such a way that the observant and open-hearted reader would pick up these vital messages and be convicted of the love and truth about God.

So it is not at all out of line to look for close connections between the stories assembled here in the gospel of John. I knew that, but it still remains that there are so many of them so tightly packed in here that sometimes they still catch me by surprise when they suddenly are brought to my attention.

When Jesus talked with this woman about the gift of God, I just realized that this is a direct reference back to the previous story about Nicodemus. In that discussion He very plainly shared what the gift of God is. In fact, if I read this phrase in English a slightly different way with the emphasis on God instead of the word gift, it becomes also obvious that the identity of the gift is literally God Himself. God is the gift in the person of Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Then when Jesus adds the second part and mentions the identity issue of Himself, He is really amplifying the answer to the first part – what is the gift. In essence He is saying, “God has a gift for you. That gift amazingly is God Himself. And furthermore that gift of God is right now standing here talking with you. Can you believe it? Will you believe in me?”

The third item mentioned by Jesus in this initial answer to the woman is also linked back to the previous story with Nicodemus. When Jesus tells her that He is waiting to give her something called living water He is again referring back to His mention of water to Nicodemus.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)

When I compare these two stories I find something interesting and informative. With Nicodemus He talks about water and Spirit. With this woman of Sychar He talks about truth and spirit. As I pondered this another verse was brought to my attention that helps to connect these together.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. (Ephesians 5:25-26 NIV)

In this verse the Word of God is associated with the symbol of water. John often refers to Jesus directly as the Word made flesh. Clearly the Bible is also the Word of God simplified into human languages that is not quite as clear as the demonstration of God in the life of Jesus. But God has given it to us as a means to reveal truth about Him as we immerse ourselves under the guidance of God's Spirit in this symbolic water that has such powerful cleansing properties.

According to this last verse, this kind of water will lead us to be sanctified – made holy – whatever that really means. As part of that process we are cleansed in some important way to bring us into this condition of being holy. So if the Word has power to cleanse us from something and the Word is symbolized by water, which clearly in physical life is very much used for cleaning purposes both internally and externally, Jesus is offering this woman a great deal more than is at first apparent from just a casual reading of this story.

But in His interaction with this woman of Sychar, Jesus focuses more on the other aspect of water that is so necessary for life. He talks about water that we drink, that brings deep satisfaction to the thirst that we all were created to experience. Thirst is part of the makeup of our bodies that God designed in us to motivate us to search for and partake of something that our bodies must have in order to maintain life. Likewise, we are also wired to experience deep spiritual thirst whenever our souls feel a lack of the water of life. However, this kind of thirst is very often misunderstood or misdiagnosed because Satan has blinded our minds and hearts to what we really need to satisfy this thirst.

These two uses for water are not really separate. Drinking water to satisfy a deep thirst accomplishes the very same work as drinking water to cleanse ourselves internally. God designed water to be the most effective element of cleansing for us internally as well as externally. It is extremely important for very many reasons that we keep ourselves well hydrated by regularly drinking pure, clean water. Our bodies are designed to utilize this water partly to flush out toxins from our body to keep us in a better state of health. When we do not intake enough water we are liable to experience serious problems. And the same is true even more so in our spiritual nature.

In very many ways our bodies are actually given to us as metaphors of the even greater realities that we find difficult to comprehend in the spiritual realm of life. As we study the analogies that God has given us in nature and in our own bodies we can begin to comprehend better the spiritual truths that God wants us to understand so we can respond to His drawing power of love and perceive revelations about the spirit that are otherwise quite obscure to us. In fact, the Bible is filled with illustrations of the spiritual from the natural world to help us better understand what is actually quite plain to those living on the other side of the barrier that sin has created in our perceptions.

Father, I choose to accept the gift of God in the presence of Jesus abiding in me today. I want to know much better who it is that offers me this drink and I also want to experience the rich satisfaction that you have for me as I learn how to keep drinking of this living water. I want Jesus to be the well of water that continually springs up from inside of me and produces eternal life in my soul and spirit. Thank-you for these insights and revelations about yourself to my heart and mind. Dwell in me today, sanctify me, cleanse me and make me an instrument of your peace.