Standing Knee Deep in A River (Dying of Thirst)

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:13-14

Some of you probably recognize this title from the 1992 song performed by country singer Kathy Mattea and later covered by Joe Cocker in 1994. While the song does sound pretty good, more importantly it also contains a valuable lesson we must never lose sight of as Christians. The thrust of the song is how its subject undervalued and underutilized so many great blessings in life later wishing she could reclaim them now that they were gone. Who among us does not have at least a few similar regrets? How often do we find ourselves not appreciating and effectively utilizing the tremendous blessings God has placed in our lives? How foolish would it be to literally be standing in a river of water and stand in danger of dying of thirst? Yet so often the Lord’s own people stand in the middle of the river of spiritual blessings He has provided through the gospel of Christ while our souls are dying of thirst.

In John 4:13-14, Jesus used the thirst quenching, life sustaining power of water as an analogy for humanity’s desperate need to draw near to God through the Christ whom He sent (cf. John 4:25-26; 17:3). This analogy would have been most profound to the original recipients of these words as they knew the misery of lacking sufficient water to drink. Therefore, the idea of wasting a drink or refusing to drink what was available would have been absurd. We have all the clean drinking water we desire, and I dare say we will not allow ourselves to go thirsty for any length of time.

This begs the question why so many who have the water of life which Jesus provided refuse to drink. Of course, the people of the world may not recognize it for what it is, but so many Christians have multiple containers of this water (Bibles in our possession) and never open them up to take a drink. This is a tragedy because, just as our physical bodies cannot live without physical water, so our souls cannot live without the water of life provided by the Lord.

Jesus told the woman at Jacob’s well that the water He gives would “…become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Revelation 22:1-2 speaks of the river of water of life which was to be given to the faithful who overcame the affliction detailed in the book. As we sojourn here in this world, we must continually drink the water of life to sustain our thirsty souls. Paul told Timothy to be diligent in his pursuit of the knowledge of God’s will (2 Timothy 2:15). The Hebrews writer lamented the lack of such diligence among his readers (Hebrews 5:12-6:1). Peter told his readers to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

Countless other examples could be given, but these are sufficient for our purposes. Though using different terminology, every one of these is saying to their respective readers, drink and live! Will you and I drink and live eternally, or will we stand knee deep in the river of the water of life and die of thirst? What a waste that would be!

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