Spiritually Parched

Carl walked out of the pantry and looked at me with a needy expression. Something wasn’t right, but I was too involved with what I was doing to go and investigate. A couple of minutes later he returned to the pantry, walked out and again gazed up with a pleading expression.

This time, I followed him back to the pantry, looked in the corner and instantly knew what had caused him such concern. There in the corner was his water bowl with not a drop of water left in it. It was dry and looked like it had been this way for hours.

Once I filled the bowl with cool fresh water, Carl lapped at it for several minutes. After he finished, Bee found her way to the bowl and drank until she was full. Both of my dogs had been parched for what we all take for granted. Water.

Many of us have lived our entire lives with this life supporting substance readily available to us. We have fountains in our parks, airports, malls, and grocery stores. All we have to do is turn on our faucets in our homes and it pours out to meet one of our most vital needs.

Jesus knew the importance of water and addressed it when he spoke to the Samaritan woman. Here was a woman that was scorned for the lifestyle she had chosen. Being an outcast by her community, she waited for all of the other women to go to the well before she took her water pot and made her way to get water. The sun was high and I am sure by now, she was parched.

Every day she would wait until the last woman had left before approaching the well. On this particular day, she felt the pangs of thirst as she watched the last woman leave. But as she approached, she noticed a man lingering near the well. Not sure what to do, she was amazed when he asked, “Give Me a drink.”

What started as a simple question ended in a life changing experience for this woman.  As they spoke, Jesus shared with her about living water that fills the soul until it pours out like a fountain. Then something happened deep within her being. Instead of feeling judged, she felt fulfilled, even though she never drank from the well. It even states in John 4: 28 that she left the water pot and went back to her community and shared with them about Jesus.

What had happened during this conversation that caused this woman to abandon the water pot? What motivated her to go back to her family and friends and share about this man?

I believe this woman was not only parched from lack of water but was also parched from life without meaning. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that He has put eternity in our hearts. If this is so, we will all try to fill our souls with something but only God can fill that void.

And this woman got it. She realized after living a life of seeking fulfillment through men that only Jesus, who stood in front of her, could complete her.

In the future, I will strive to do a better job of keeping water in Carl’s bowl. But more importantly as we approach the day of our Lord’s birth, let us take Him out of the manger and remember that Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father. And if you look closely enough, you may just see the cup of water that He is offering you.