A Well That Does Not Run Dry

A woman walks to a well at noon, the hottest part of the day, when nobody else will be there. She has done this many times, and she will have to do it again tomorrow. That is the daily rhythm of her life, and in some ways it is the rhythm of ours too.

Jesus is sitting by Jacob’s well in Samaria, tired from the road, and He asks her for a drink. Jews and Samaritans did not mix, and a man did not usually speak to a woman alone, yet He does. Soon He tells her that the water in that well will leave a person thirsty again, "But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst".

He is not talking only about water. Every one of us keeps going back to something, a paycheck, a relationship, being approved of, a screen at midnight. It helps for a while, and then we are thirsty again. Jesus does not shame her for that, He offers what a bucket cannot hold: "a fount of water springing up to eternal life".

Notice that it is a gift, and it is His to give. She does not earn it, and she does not have to bring a better jar. He puts it inside the one who receives it, and it keeps rising from within. This is the life the Holy Spirit gives to everyone who turns from sin and trusts Christ.

That does not mean your hard days vanish. You may still be tired, grieving, or waiting on news you dread, but the source is not outside you, running low. Christ Himself is with you, and a heart that has drunk from Him can still hold steady hope when things look desperate.

The samaritan woman was so overwhelmed about what Jesus has just revealed to her, that she left behind her most important possession that she had at the moment: the pot she used to collect water. You don't have to leave everything you have behind, but as you walk with Jesus, things will start to have a different meaning and importance in your life.

Here is one step for today: the next time you pour a glass of water, stop and tell Jesus what you keep going back to, and ask Him to be enough.

Lord Jesus, I am thirsty in more ways than I admit. Give me Your living water, and teach me to come to You first. Amen.