September 21 | Bible in a Year: Ecclesiastes 7–9; 2 Corinthians 13

Living Water

Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. John 7:37

John 7:37

READ John 7:37–39

The cut flowers came from Ecuador. By the time they arrived at my house, they were droopy and road-weary. Instructions said revive them with a cool drink of refreshing water. Before that, however, the flower stems had to be trimmed so they could drink the water more easily. But would they survive?

The next morning, I discovered my answer. The Ecuadorian bouquet was a glorious sight, featuring flowers I’d never seen before. Fresh water made all the difference—a reminder of what Jesus said about water and what it means to believers.

When Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink of water—implying He’d drink from what she fetched from the well—He changed her life. She was surprised by His request. Jews looked down on Samaritans. But Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). Later, in the temple, He cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (7:37). Among those who believed in Him, “rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive” ( vv. 38–39).

God’s refreshing Spirit revives us today when we’re life-weary. He’s the Living Water, dwelling in our souls with holy refreshment. May we drink deep today.

By Patricia Raybon

What areas of your life feel parched and dry? What may be preventing you from asking Jesus to give you this living water?

Loving God, when life leaves me road-weary and thirsty, thank You for the gift of Your Spirit, the living water, who dwells in every believer.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

In the law of Moses, God commanded every adult male Jew to come to the temple in Jerusalem to observe three annual harvest festivals or feasts (see Exodus 23:14–17; Deuteronomy 16:1–17): the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover [Pesach]), the Feast of Harvest (or Weeks [Shavuot] or Pentecost), and the Feast of Ingathering (or Tabernacles [Sukkoth] or Booths). In John 7, Jesus came to the temple to observe the Feast of the Tabernacles (vv. 2, 37 ). The Jews celebrated this weeklong festival to commemorate God’s provision during their forty-year journey in the wilderness (Leviticus 23:33–44). The lighting of giant menorahs in the temple courtyard reminded them of the pillar of fire that had guided them (Exodus 13:21–22), and a water-pouring ritual reminded them of the water from the rock which quenched their thirst (17:6; Numbers 20:8–11). Against this background, Jesus offered “rivers of living water” ( John 7:38) and proclaimed, “I am the light of the world” (8:12).