Have you ever been thirsty? No, I don’t mean being thirsty after a workout, or the feeling of thirst you get sitting on the patio on a hot summer day. No, I mean dried out thirst, tongue sticking to the roof of the mouth thirst.
I would guess you probably haven’t experienced such a thirst. Neither have I. Yet hundreds, and probably thousands not only experience it, but die from it across the various regions of the world. You see water is one of the few necessities of life, without which, you will die.
Water is essential for life. It is something we cannot do without for any extended period of time. Fortunately, the earth has a lot of it. However, most of it is saltwater, unfit for human consumption. Efforts are being made to produce fresh water from seawater, but it is a very expensive proposition.
According to the United Nations, only 2.5% of the global water supply is fresh, usable water. The rest is saltwater. And so, the cry for pure, thirst-quenching water continues across many regions of the world. That cry leads people to dig wells and hew out cisterns to sustain themselves.
The Trouble with Wells
In our society today, people have all kinds of wells, wells on which they depend for their physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. We cherish them and nurture them. But wells are very tenuous, and are subject to prevailing conditions.
First, they dry up during droughts and they, as well as us, become empty. Secondly, you always need to refill another container. You’re always restless and protective of your well, because it’s the core of who you are. And what is true in the physical, is true in the spiritual realm as well.
You see, we all have wells we depend on for our physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Maybe your well is another career conquest, perhaps it’s the acceptance by a group of friends, perhaps it’s buying things that make you feel secure, or maybe it’s depending on your social position, or your bank account. Whatever your “WELL” is today, if you were honest, you would truly say, “It does not satisfy my innermost thirst.”
In the Book of Jeremiah, Jer. 2:12-13; We read of the Lord’s displeasure with His people: 12 Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the Lord. “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jer. 2:12-13).
God is rebuking His children, because they had forsaken the fountain of living water – God Himself, and had hewn out for themselves cisterns, wells, broken wells that couldn’t hold water. Apparently, human nature hasn’t changed that much. At times, we tend to prefer substitutes in deference to the real thing.
The people were dying of thirst, while the “Fountain of Living Water” – God, their Source was being ignored. These man-made objects – idols of many kinds – were no substitutes for the power and presence of God. They do not satisfy the desires of the human heart.
God warns them, and by extension, warns us today, not to depend on wells of our own making. But instead to come and receive an internal supply, that never will run dry.
In the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet sees a river flowing from the temple of God and “there was life everywhere the river goes.” All vegetation along the bank thrived. (Ezekiel 47:9).
When people came to fish for food, their nets are always return to them full. There were trees that never failed to bear fruit from their branches (vv.10–12). But we need to take note here, because there is a warning. In Ezekiel 47:11, it says. Yet its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be left for salt.
There were swamps and marshes that didn’t become healed by the river of life. This represented people who did not receive the life-giving water of God. Because, those who seek life outside of God, will come to the marshes to be refreshed only to find the water full of salt, further dehydrating their souls.
But here is the good news, not only for today, but in the ages to come, there will be healing and abundance in the life-giving river of God. In Revelation 22:1–3, John is given a vision of the new Eden where a river will flow through the city and bring life and healing to all who draw near to it. So, there will be a future day when we will all find our needs fulfilled for eternity.
So, when the days ahead feel extra difficult and arid, may we remember the River of Life that we can draw from—the River that is deep; deep enough to satisfy our souls for eternity.
The story is told of a shipwrecked crew who had been drifting for days in a small boat off the coast of Brazil. They were suffering the horrors of thirst but they dared not drink the seawater because the salt would make it even worse. They saw a vessel coming towards them, and called out, “Water, water! We need water!”
“Dip your bucket over the side.” “Dip your bucket over the side,” they were told. They thought they were being mocked. But no, the water on which they were sailing was actually fresh. You see, they had drifted into the flow of the mighty Amazon River bearing fresh water for miles out into ocean.
But they were unaware of it. There they were, dying of thirst, wishing for a cool drink of water, while oblivious to them, they had been in the presence of life-saving water. Just like the shipwrecked sailors, God has made provision for us, so that we may never go thirsty again.
As Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman at the well that day: “Everyone who drinks from this well will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give them will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give them will become a well of water springing up into eternal life” (John 4:13–14).
