Listen

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!”

John 4:13-15

Think

So often, our basic needs crowd out our ability to hear the deeper needs of our souls. As it will become obvious later in the story, this woman is quite capable of discerning spiritual truths and concepts. But the daily physical needs can be quite demanding of our attention.

Jesus doesn’t tell her to ignore the physical. In fact, he has asked her for some water! He has compared the gift of God to water itself. Rather than pointing away from the physical needs of life, he is pointing beyond them, into the deeper needs of our souls. He is telling her that God’s attention to, affection for, and inclusion of her will do their work so deeply and fully in her that she will be a source of these things for others. Jesus invites her into the family of God, where all our needs can be met in love.

Amber Inscore Essick

Pray

Lord, you are the source of my life. Nurture me in every way, so that, being loved so well by you, I can create a world of love in your image.

Go

Drink of the deep love of God. As it fills your heart, let it overflow to those near you who most need to be seen and heard by God.