Refreshed and Given The Water of Life in Jesus

Kathy and I recently again realized how much we depend on running water. That may sound like a surprising statement, but on Sunday night, August 13, water stopped running through the pipes in our house. Actually, this was the second time we have faced this dilemma this summer. It turns out that the switch on our relatively new pressure tank had troubles. In May of this year a plumber cleaned the points on the switch and our water flowed again. But, on August 15, our plumber totally replaced the switch, hoping to prevent this problem from happening again.

When you are without running water for almost 48 hours you realize how precious water is. Thankfully, we had many full water bottles we could use. So, we turned to these water bottles to wash our face, to brush our teeth, to make our coffee. However, we also used our gym membership for a shower on Monday evening. Kathy and I are already somewhat aware that running water is a gift. Our small cabin on the Kenai Peninsula is a ‘dry’ cabin. There is no plumbing, or running water. In the cabin we use a water dispenser and bottled water. This week we were reminded again that we cannot live without water. We need water for life. Free, easy water access is a gift for which we are thankful. After we had running water in our home again, Kathy and I remarked about this fact to each other.

Water is necessary for our physical existence in this world. The love and grace of God in Jesus are necessary for our faith in this life, and for our eternal life in heaven. When talking with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, Jesus told her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14). When Jesus attended the Jewish festival in John 7, he taught, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." In Revelation 21, speaking from heaven to the Apostle John, Jesus declares, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. (Revelation 21:6)

In a world that attacks us regularly, Jesus loves us. Nothing “will be able separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” (Romans 8:39) In a world damaged by our sin and our failure, Jesus forgives our sin because of His death on the cross. He gives us new life! “. . . the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) In a world of constant bad news, Jesus is “The Good News.” (Luke 2:10, Mark 1:15) In a world of death, Jesus is “The resurrection and The life.” (John 11:25-26)

It is one thing to be without running water in our home. It is another thing to be without Jesus. He gives us, Jesus is, “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”