Some people worry so much over a cellphone lost or misplaced without realizing that losing water is much more important than losing the cellphone, which is quite replaceable. For people in industrialized countries or first-world countries, water resources may not be a huge problem for many. But, third-world countries know what water shortage means and how water is such an important and basic necessity for life, more than a piece of high-end sleek metal, such as a cellphone. Even when abundance may let us forget how important the basic needs, such as water, their need to man’s survival and comfort remain the same in all generations.

Imagine life with water shortage or no water at all. Life isn’t possible without water. Science says that the adult human body is made up of 60% of water. The earth is covered with 75℅ of water. Water is just part of us and everything we do. Even when we look for a house, one of the things we always check is the water system.

This great significance of water to life is the very point that Jesus Christ used when He talked to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).

It must be just an ordinary usual day for the Samaritan woman to do her routine of drawing water from the well. But this time, she met a Jew who did not just speak to her but also asked her for a drink. It was shocking because the Samaritan woman knew well that Jews at that time don’t speak to Samaritans (John 4:9).

This story in the Bible illustrates to us how Jesus is so unlike man. He doesn’t think and feel the way we do. Jesus breaks hatred and barriers. He shows love and acceptance regardless of color and race. He totally demonstrated this when he talked to the Samaritan woman.

What did Jesus and the Samaritan woman talk about at the well? Well, Jesus full of wisdom, confronted the woman about her sin. He started the conversation by asking for water to drink. Isn’t it so timely and relevant? God is like that. He demonstrated His presence unexpectedly. He’s always around but He tends to show up in ways we least expect and at just the right moment in time. Just like how He showed up to the Samaritan woman.

Jacob’s well from which the Samaritan woman draws water is symbolic of the well of water that God gives us through Jesus Christ. The Samaritan woman could easily understand the allusion that Jesus was trying to point out to her because drawing water was a significant part of her life.

Jesus Christ gives a well of water that springs up to eternal life. It is clear that the Samaritan woman knew how important water is to their daily life. When Jesus offered her a water that would satisfy her and in which she would never thirst again, she immediately asked Jesus to give her that kind of water so that she would not have to travel all the way to the well to draw water.

“Jesus answered her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.’
The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.’ “

– John 4:13-15 (WEB)

It was obvious that Jesus was not talking about the physical water. The Samaritan woman only realized this when Jesus told her of her sin — that the man she was with isn’t her husband because she had already 5 husbands previously (John 4:17-19).

When God meets us and we come face to face with Him, He confronts us with our sins. He doesn’t cover up sins and He does not tolerate sins. He lovingly and honestly points them out to us just like how He did with the Samaritan woman. At the same time, He gives us hope just like how He gave hope to the Samaritan woman when he offered her the spiritual water that can truly satisfy her soul.

After getting the second shock of her life at being told of her sin by a stranger, she finally realized who she was talking to and believed in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah comes,’ (he who is called Christ). ‘When he has come, he will declare to us all things.‘
Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who speaks to you.‘…
So the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people,
‘Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?‘

– John 4:25-26, 28-29 (WEB)

We physically thirst for water and know what it means to be thirsty. We know how water can refresh our physical body. Jesus Christ is telling us exactly this when he talks about the well of water that satisfies for eternity. When we thirst and seek spiritual water, Jesus Christ can satisfy our thirst and renew our spirit. We have different thirsts that nag at us. They are inside us and they are not always obvious to other people. But all of us have that “thirst” in our spirit because we are just like that Samaritan woman. We have sins that we try to hide. Jesus Christ knows it all even before we confess the truth. Yet, He still loves us and invites us to repent and live anew by drawing water from Him.

Seek Jesus Christ and draw water from Him that can give you life for eternity. He is inviting you today to put your faith in Him. Your past sins do not matter to the great love He has for you. Whatever you had done in the past, He already knew it. You just need to confess it to Him, believe in Jesus, and follow Him.