Hiking expeditions were one of my favorite childhood pastimes. My brothers would guide me in zigzag fashion down a heavily wooded, steep hill. One might think the ‘going down’ would be easy, but the muscles in my legs would dare to differ. By the time we reached the bottom we were exhausted, but not so much that we couldn’t cup our hands, dip them in the fresh water spring, and drink to our heart’s content.

I wonder if that was an inkling of what the Samaritan woman felt when she happened upon a Jewish man resting at Jacob’s well. When he asked her for a drink, she couldn’t believe her ears. A Jewish man actually spoke to a Samaritan, and a Samaritan woman at that! He began to slowly reveal that she was speaking to one who could give her living water. She desperately wanted this water so she would not have a daily trek to draw from the well. However, Jesus was referring to spirtual water, not water from Jacob’s well. He looked into her heart and saw a soul that was dry, thirsty, in desperate need of a cool cup of spiritual water, and she did not realize the one who could supply that need was sitting before her, the Messiah who is called Christ!

Perhaps it is so in our own lives. Our families, our jobs, and the expeditions of life keep us constantly moving, near exhaustion. And, like the Samaritan woman, we search among material things for what will bring contentment, all the while seemingly unaware that our souls are in need of a refreshing cup of spiritual water.

Jesus still gently speaks to us. He offers us a refreshing cup of water – oh, not as he sits by Jacob’s well, but as he sits at the Father’s right hand. And though not audible, Jesus calls us powerfully through His word – come to Me…let me give you living water…let me create in you a fountain of water that will spring up into everlasting life.

Is your soul in need of refreshment? Does your heart long for a cup of living water? If so, grab your ladle and together we’ll go to the wellspring… Today’s verse: “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10

–Teresa Hampton