As the deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul pants for You, O Lord. My soul thirsts for God, for the living god. When shall I come and appear before God? (vs. 1-2)
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' " Jesus
It is a searing summer season. Rain has not fallen in the forested area for several months, leaving crispy leaves and dying plants under the feet of the doe and her fawn as they wander the woods looking for water. A stream. The ones she has relied on in the past have dried up. Her fawn is parched and scrawny. The doe is fainting for lack of water. Daily she wanders the familiar parts of the forest in search of a new watering place. But her energy for the journey is waning. She has thought of just lying down with her baby and dying. Without water they cannot go on.
She came to the well at noon when the sun was shining down with its summer intensity. Because she was an immoral woman, she could not draw water with the "other" women in the early and late hours of the day. No. She was unclean and was treated like a dog by the righteous women of Sychar. At home, she left the man she slept with. Not her husband, but what did that matter any more? Men did not seem to be the answer to her ever deepening emptiness. She had been married so many times she had almost lost count. Needy men who always left her. Sweat poured down her back as she carried her water jar to the well. There was a man sitting nearby. A minor irritation.
"Give me a drink."
Really? "Why are you asking me for a drink? You are a Jew. Too good for us Samaritans!"
"If you knew the gift of God and Who I am asking you for a drink, you would ask Me for living water." The man was looking at her so intently that it made her nervous. She always talked too much when she was uncomfortable.
"Sir," she replied all in one breath. "You don't have anything to draw water with, the well is deep, where are you going to get living water? Are you greater than Jacob who dug the well and drank from it himself? His sons and his livestock drank here, too." Honestly, who did he think he was? Men!
"When you drink this water, you will become thirsty again. Once you taste the water I am offering you, you will never be thirsty again. It is a spring of eternal water that wells up in you." Jesus knew her panting heart - her deeper thirst. Her desperate need for quenching.
"So give me this water so that I never have to come to this darn well again!" Sheesh!
"Okay. Go get your husband and I will give you both some!"
"Uh. I don't have a husband." Dont' want another one.
"I know. You are an honest woman. You have had five husbands already and this man you live with is not your husband. I know your life." Jesus, matter of fact.
Nervous again the Samaritan woman goes off on religion. Hurt by it. Wounded by the self-righteous women who have refused to speak to or acknowledge her at the well or in the city. They don't know her life. Her aching need for significance.
"Ma'am, the hour is coming when all these religious questions you have bombarded me with won't matter at all because people will be worshipping God the way He has always wanted - by the Holy Spirit and in honest devotion. God is right now looking for just such people." A divine appointment with a woman of mixed race. God incarnate looking her in the eye. No wonder she was nervous.
"I know the Messiah is coming. He will be like You, telling people all things." Could this man be the Messiah? He seems to know all about me....things I have done he couldn't possibly know. She was suddenly very thirsty.
"I Who speak to you Am He." This to an unclean woman who came to the unwelcome well.
Of course, she ran to her town to tell everyone that this man at the well could be the Christ! Knew her life and the reasons for it. God, come in the flesh to look for a thirsty woman who did not know it took more than water to quench her parched and dessicated soul. Drinking in dead end relationships with marginal men to slack her thirst for love.
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink!" With arms spread wide, Jesus would declare this openly at feasts and before crowds large and small. But never smaller than His personal revelation to the adultress in Sychar. The God of the universe sought her out. Looking for those who are long for a draft of living water.
In her journey with the fawn, the doe, weakened by her thirst, turns a new direction. The old paths lead to dry river beds. Her need pushes her further into the forest than she has ever dared to go. Finally her heart quickens for she smells water up ahead and goads her baby forward with this one last hope of life. The earth beneath her feet feels damp. She places her nose to the ground and cannot believe her luck. A few more feet. Steps away. Water. Life. Then she hears it. The stream lapping over rocks making joyful music as it spews its foam onto her face. With her nose she guides her baby to the edge of the stream. They wade in and let the water course around their legs as they drink deeply until their bellies are filled and their bodies drenched. They will live. They are saved!
The Father is looking for you, if you are thirsty. If you need Him like a dying woman needs water. If you are panting for significance and all other streams have dried up.
When shall I appear before His throne? One day. Who will be there? The One Who offered an outcast a drink of water.
Therefore they are before the throne of God...and He Who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence...For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Revelation 7.
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' " Jesus
It is a searing summer season. Rain has not fallen in the forested area for several months, leaving crispy leaves and dying plants under the feet of the doe and her fawn as they wander the woods looking for water. A stream. The ones she has relied on in the past have dried up. Her fawn is parched and scrawny. The doe is fainting for lack of water. Daily she wanders the familiar parts of the forest in search of a new watering place. But her energy for the journey is waning. She has thought of just lying down with her baby and dying. Without water they cannot go on.
She came to the well at noon when the sun was shining down with its summer intensity. Because she was an immoral woman, she could not draw water with the "other" women in the early and late hours of the day. No. She was unclean and was treated like a dog by the righteous women of Sychar. At home, she left the man she slept with. Not her husband, but what did that matter any more? Men did not seem to be the answer to her ever deepening emptiness. She had been married so many times she had almost lost count. Needy men who always left her. Sweat poured down her back as she carried her water jar to the well. There was a man sitting nearby. A minor irritation.
"Give me a drink."
Really? "Why are you asking me for a drink? You are a Jew. Too good for us Samaritans!"
"If you knew the gift of God and Who I am asking you for a drink, you would ask Me for living water." The man was looking at her so intently that it made her nervous. She always talked too much when she was uncomfortable.
"Sir," she replied all in one breath. "You don't have anything to draw water with, the well is deep, where are you going to get living water? Are you greater than Jacob who dug the well and drank from it himself? His sons and his livestock drank here, too." Honestly, who did he think he was? Men!
"When you drink this water, you will become thirsty again. Once you taste the water I am offering you, you will never be thirsty again. It is a spring of eternal water that wells up in you." Jesus knew her panting heart - her deeper thirst. Her desperate need for quenching.
"So give me this water so that I never have to come to this darn well again!" Sheesh!
"Okay. Go get your husband and I will give you both some!"
"Uh. I don't have a husband." Dont' want another one.
"I know. You are an honest woman. You have had five husbands already and this man you live with is not your husband. I know your life." Jesus, matter of fact.
Nervous again the Samaritan woman goes off on religion. Hurt by it. Wounded by the self-righteous women who have refused to speak to or acknowledge her at the well or in the city. They don't know her life. Her aching need for significance.
"Ma'am, the hour is coming when all these religious questions you have bombarded me with won't matter at all because people will be worshipping God the way He has always wanted - by the Holy Spirit and in honest devotion. God is right now looking for just such people." A divine appointment with a woman of mixed race. God incarnate looking her in the eye. No wonder she was nervous.
"I know the Messiah is coming. He will be like You, telling people all things." Could this man be the Messiah? He seems to know all about me....things I have done he couldn't possibly know. She was suddenly very thirsty.
"I Who speak to you Am He." This to an unclean woman who came to the unwelcome well.
Of course, she ran to her town to tell everyone that this man at the well could be the Christ! Knew her life and the reasons for it. God, come in the flesh to look for a thirsty woman who did not know it took more than water to quench her parched and dessicated soul. Drinking in dead end relationships with marginal men to slack her thirst for love.
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink!" With arms spread wide, Jesus would declare this openly at feasts and before crowds large and small. But never smaller than His personal revelation to the adultress in Sychar. The God of the universe sought her out. Looking for those who are long for a draft of living water.
In her journey with the fawn, the doe, weakened by her thirst, turns a new direction. The old paths lead to dry river beds. Her need pushes her further into the forest than she has ever dared to go. Finally her heart quickens for she smells water up ahead and goads her baby forward with this one last hope of life. The earth beneath her feet feels damp. She places her nose to the ground and cannot believe her luck. A few more feet. Steps away. Water. Life. Then she hears it. The stream lapping over rocks making joyful music as it spews its foam onto her face. With her nose she guides her baby to the edge of the stream. They wade in and let the water course around their legs as they drink deeply until their bellies are filled and their bodies drenched. They will live. They are saved!
The Father is looking for you, if you are thirsty. If you need Him like a dying woman needs water. If you are panting for significance and all other streams have dried up.
When shall I appear before His throne? One day. Who will be there? The One Who offered an outcast a drink of water.
Therefore they are before the throne of God...and He Who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence...For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Revelation 7.
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