“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
(John 4:14)
The people of Israel in the wilderness on their way to the land that God had promised them found themselves in a very critical situation where there was no water for them to drink. Exodus is very explicit and puts it this way,
“Tormented by thirst, the people complained against Moses” (Exodus 17:3a”).
We all know that water is life, and it does not take long to live without water, therefore all things being equal, an individual will be dead in some few days if he should be without water. Every person will complain when we realize that we are in a situation where if care or action is not taken, death will be knocking on our doors. We therefore cannot fault the people of Israel when they were tormented by the lack of water on their way to the promised land. They were human beings and will therefore complain. Jesus makes it clear to the Samaritan woman that the water he will give will not make her thirst again, portraying to the woman that the water she has always been coming to the well to draw is temporal but his is permanent and will lead to eternal life and thirst will be done away with.
Brothers and Sisters, we must know that complaining is part of human life and we will never stop complaining. It is natural that when we find ourselves in an uncomfortable situation, and we are unable to find solace anywhere we try to blame people especially our leaders, expecting them to solve our problem at all costs.
“Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” (Exodus 17:3b)
I am tempted to ask this question, did Moses have his own water somewhere that he was not thirsty? If he was also thirsty, why didn’t he complain? Indeed, he was also feeling the pinch but who was he going to complain to? Beloved in Christ, Moses was moved by the complaints and grumbling of the people therefore he realized that he did not call himself to lead these people, but God did, so, he did the needful, to call on the one who called him for solution.
“Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!” (Exodus 17:4)
Difficult situations will always come our way no matter what, as Christians we will face impossible things, but we must always realize that we are not alone and that the torment of thirst will be a thing of the past because Jesus Christ is with us and he has come to give us water that will not only quench our thirst, but also the water will assure us of eternal life. We should just believe and have faith in him. Beloved, what is tormenting you? Do not be bothered about it because Jesus is with us, and he lives in us:
“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
It is noteworthy that it is only through Jesus that we can achieve righteousness, its all about our reliance on him and the willingness to acknowledge who he is in our lives, and if we do that we will be at peace with God, all torments will seize to exists and we will enjoy the grace of God through Jesus Christ. The faith and hope we have in God were through the auspices of the Holy Spirit and so we must always know that God will never disappoint us, we should allow it to work in everything we do not some of the things but everything. Let us not belittle ourselves into thinking that he is not with us, because if he has come to die for us despite our sinfulness in order to have eternal life and hope then, he is always with us to give us what we need in due time we must just believe. When Moses was given instructions regarding how to get water for the people of Israel, he believed first and foremost that God was with him.
Jesus brings all of us together, no matter the race, ethnic background, colour, etc the sharp difference between the Jews and the Samaritans did not prevent Jesus from having an interaction with her. It was Jesus who came to Samaria, he was the one who asked for drink from the Samaritan woman, first extending a hand to the Samaritan. He acknowledged the rift between the Jews and the Samaritans, but Jesus looked at the bigger picture. He made it emphatically clear that reasons for drift is neither here nor there and that:
“… the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
Jesus gives us the opportunity to worship God in spirit and in truth and with this the other women who came with the Samaritan woman because of what the Samaritan woman had told them believed in Jesus that he was truly the Living Water and the Saviour of the world.
Beloved, what witness have we given about Jesus Christ, our Lord and saviour? Beloved in Christ, who do we complain to? Who do we rely on in times of difficulty, who do we speak to when we feel tormented by situations, we have no control of? How do we deal with our thirst? Turn not unto man but turn to Jesus the living Water and the Saviour of the world.