LIVING WATER WITHIN

The Spirit fills us with a wellspring that never runs dry.

JOHN 4:14 | “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

A couple of weeks ago, one of my friends was admitted to the hospital because of an autoimmune disease. She was there for a week. During that time, I was able to visit her and observe everything that was going on. When I think of hospitals, I think of sterile white rooms, sick people, and death. These are not warm or welcoming images, especially when you’re living there for a week.

Although my friend was in the midst of the unknown, she (like always) was a wellspring of life in that hospital. When the nurses and caretakers came in to check on her, she would check right back in on them. She would ask how their shift had been or if they needed anything. After coming out of her procedure, the first question she asked the doctors was, “How are y’all doing?” This seems a little backwards, but this is exactly what it looks like when we receive the living water that Jesus offers.

Jesus meets us where we are, even in hospital rooms. He knows us like He knew the Samaritan woman at the well. Our sin, hurt, and circumstances don’t push Him away; rather, He draws close to us, renewing us if we allow Him to. He doesn’t ask us to be perfect when we come to Him; instead, He wants us as we are—with all our questions and imperfections—because only through Jesus are we made perfect.

If we ask Jesus for His living water and we seek Him out, He will give it to us. This living water is the Holy Spirit dwelling in our lives so that we may become a living well. He dwells with us even in the midst of hospital rooms, through sickness, in dry seasons, and even when we don’t feel good enough for Him. When we seek Him, He fills us, and it overflows into the lives of those around us, just as it did for the doctors caring for my friend. As we continually seek Him, He fills us more and more—turning our dry and barren lives into a well “gushing up to eternal life.”