give me a drink

"The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water..."

(John 4:15a)

What powerful words came out of the Samaritan woman's mouth that day and she didn't even realize the depth of what she spoke. She had come face-to-face with the Messiah and had yet to be enlightened to that fact.

She was still dealing with the truth that a Jewish man was actually speaking to her. Actually having a conversation with her and that he asked her for a drink. This Samaritan woman was seeing things in the literal sense and the spiritual meaning of what was taking place went right by her. 

How many of us, who profess a life of Christianity, miss the spiritual application of the Word of Christ at times?  Sadly, we can get too literal minded sometimes and totally miss out on the beautiful lessons that our Lord is trying to teach us in the spiritual realm.

In verse 10 of that passage, after Jesus asks her for a drink, the woman's responses is that of an almost gentle rebuke as to why a Jew would even be giving a Samaritan a second glance. And the precious and tender answer of our Lord is filled with the amazing gospel message.

"If thou knewest.... thou wouldest have asked of Him.....and He would have given thee Living Water"

We must tell all people about the great and mighty Savior that we serve. The gospel  message of Christ should always be on our lips. We should always be ready to give others a cup of that cool water of the Lord. The Living Water, that is Jesus Christ, is water that will forever quench and satisfy our deep thirst.

The Samaritan woman had not a clue as to the spiritual truth being spoken, but the conviction was beginning to be formed in her heart. Once conviction comes, then and only then can there be the conversion of souls. Jesus didn't accuse her of anything, he allows her to accuse herself. And then the enlightenment of her spirit begins to come and she encounters her own sin and her deep need for a drink from the Master.

"Sir, give me this water", is a cry that we still need to be uttering even after our own salvation experience. May we never quench our thirst with anything but Jesus. May we stand before Him with our arms stretched toward heaven, holding our empty cups and ask Him for water. 

 And then, we need to allow His Living Water to spring forth in our lives, overflow and drench those around us. 

May our hearts cry always be for water from the only source that brings life. 

tap into the power

How do we tap into God's power for our life. Do we really believe that it is available to us?  Have you given much thought to this? Where does it come from? The Power of God in our lives comes from His precious Word. The sacred scriptures hold all the power that we will ever need. The God-breathed, Holy Spirit-inspired, indestructible, eternal and uncompromising Word of God. 

God Almighty has supreme authority over all and it is through the amazing and powerful Word of God that He exercises that authority over all of creation. Through the inspired Book of the Lord, God speaks to man and makes His will known to us.

When we pick up the bible, we need to pick it up with reverence. We need to lift it up to our hearts in awe and wonder. We need to cherish it for the beautiful treasure that it is to us! In our hands we can hold the uttered words of God that can bring us life or bring us death. Just think about that!

God's Word is light for our darkness and strength for our weariness. It gives hope where there is only helplessness and it gives cleansing to the depraved soul. It brings grace and mercy to the wounded of spirit and it shines bright the path for the lost to follow. 

And yet.... we neglect it and we fail to tap into that amazing power that our God so lovingly and graciously provided for us. And all we have to do is pick up His Holy book. Open it up. And read it. 

But we must read it with expectancy. Expectancy of spirit. And we must read it with an open heart. Ready to receive the blessings that pour forth from it like a well springing forth a gushing fountain of water! It is ours to claim if we would just receive it into our hearts and believe that what it says is true.

God's Word. A.W. Tozer says, "It is our terror and our hope. If we engage it in faith, humility and obedience, it gives life, cleanses, feeds and defends. If we close it in unbelief or ignore it or resist it, it will accuse us before the God who gave it."

Can we afford to neglect such a powerful thing? God's Word is life to us! It is the vehicle that He uses to speak to our hearts. To guide us. To lead us. To instruct us. And when we believe it down into the marrow of our bones and engage it, God begins to do a mighty work in our hearts and lives. 

Oh, how I love the precious Holy Word of God! 

Do we want to be empowered by God? By the Holy Spirit? If we do, we need to begin taking the Word of God seriously! 

"Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God"  

(Romans 10:17)

If we aren't seeking the Word, studying the Word and seriously abiding by the Word, how will our faith ever grow? The truth of the matter is, it won't. Our faith will only flounder and fizzle if we aren't keeping ourselves rooted in the scriptures.  The scriptures must have great authority in our lives if we desire to live lives that glorify and magnify His Name. 

We water down the Word's authority and importance when we neglect it. We weaken its authority when we don't heed it and obey it. We negate the power of our Lord and Savior when we don't ascribe to Him the authority and sovereignty that is His! What a tragedy!

Let's begin to truly reverence the Holy Word of God. Let's begin to read it with hearts that desire to be rooted deep in His Word and with a fervency for it to become more precious to us every day. 

Breathe on us, O breath of God, and speak to us from the pages of your Holy Word. May we read it with expectant and hungry hearts. May we read it with acknowledgement of Your divine and Holy authority and cling tightly to the promise and power that it holds. May we read it like we may never get the chance to read it again.....

"Thy Word have I hid in mine heart,

that I might not sin against Thee" 

(Psalm 119:11)