Water is beauty. 

Water is life. 

There are few things I enjoy more than relaxing on a beach and partaking in God’s natural gift of sunlight while appreciating the calming and transformative presence of the water. On a still day, a lake or ocean can appear to be the very essence, or physical manifestation, of spiritual peace. There are no disturbances upon the glassy expanse of blue. It simply “is,” and it reminds us that it is simply okay to “be.” It is okay for our bodies to be at rest. It is okay for our minds to be at rest. 

And then there is the energy of the water, soulful and healing. On a day when the tide and winds are more active, the rhythm of the waves is cathartic, washing away a person’s cares and mental junk with the ebb and flow. The rhythm of the water is like an eternal heartbeat, reminding us of the energy that will never ceases to exist—God, our souls. 

Swimming in water is like a return to the womb—a time before we are overwhelmed by the stresses of severe consciousness, desire, and responsibility—and nowadays there even exists “float therapy” whereby individuals lay down in a tank of Epsom salt water in order to relieve muscle tension, decrease anxiety, improve mood, and assist with better sleep. 

And what more can be said about being in the presence of an oceanfront sunrise or sunset? The sunrise brings, in each instance, the fresh promise of new opportunity. And the sunset—with its mystical pallet of purples and pinks—cools down our overactive minds and instills divine peace into our spirits.

The water on our planet lends so much beauty to our existence, but indeed it is also the very lifeblood of our existence. Without it Earth is not vibrant and lush. Without it, our planet is just another lifeless and listless lump of rock careening through space. 

Earth is the only planet in our solar system with liquid water on the surface—approximately 71 percent of our surface is covered in such a way—and without this water humanity and nature as we know it cease to exist. 

A human being can survive without food for up to a couple of months theoretically, although this wouldn’t be pleasant, but we can only survive without water for a matter of days. Without water the mind becomes confused and the various systems of the body lose their ability to function. If you’ve ever experienced even mild dehydration—which I have several times—then you know how unnatural and uncomfortable life without sufficient water supply can be. 
On this planet earth, we need water to live. 

But what about living water? What is this supernatural source of refreshment and nourishment that Jesus talks about as a means to steady contentment, peace and spiritual enlightenment?

As human beings who are easily lost in a scrap-and-strive pattern of foraging for the needs and desires of the day, we always seem to be left wanting more and worrying about the next go around. 

We work and shop and cook to put today’s dinner on the table, but then we must do it all over again tomorrow. We finish the to-do-list, and it is magically recreated again the next day. We find peace in our own minds, but some disturbance—a thought, a comment, a stress, an interaction—forces us back to square one. 

We often find energy and inspiration when first embarking upon a journey or goal in this life, only to find frustration and depletion later down the road. We often “stumble about in the dark,” relying on our own tired minds to make plans and find direction, only to run in circles because of spiritual neglect. Because of spiritual dehydration. 

We might repeat unhealthy patterns of behavior (self-sabotage), needlessly harbor inner trauma, and sooner or later realize that we are missing something important, something that can’t be found in the material and literal concerns and quests of daily life. 

We drink, and a little while later we are thirsty again. Something different is needed. 

Jesus tells us about something different: The Living Water. 

The living water Jesus speaks of in John chapter 4 is something really novel. It is “out of this world” but can be experienced from within this world. It is a roadmap for rising above the maddening and tiresome pattern of “drinking” from life’s plans and pleasures only to get thirsty again. It is a way to find true satisfaction and sustenance. It is a way to find contentment and joy, even amidst difficult circumstances. 

In the Living Water story from John’s Gospel, Jesus is traveling to Galilee via Samaria and encounters a local woman at the well. Even though this woman is “persona non grata” to Jews (a Samaritan) Jesus engages her in conversation by asking if she would give him a drink.

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During this interaction, the woman’s astonishment rises steadily. She is at first surprised that Jesus is even speaking with her; she is then excited to hear that there is some magical drink called “living water” which prevents thirst in perpetuity; and finally she is absolutely floored that Jesus seems to know intimate details about her personal life. She reasons that he must be a prophet. 

Rather than merely summarizing this gripping portion of Scripture, I have included it below. It reads as follows (John 4:1-26, NIV):

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, “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.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

In the above exchange Jesus reaches out to a woman in need—a woman with baggage but who apparently has the heart of a spiritual seeker. This Samaritan woman was likely caught in an unhealthy pattern of repeating bad relationships. She possibly had low self-esteem by this point and was more than a bit jaded by all of life’s stress and disappointments. Tired and trudging through yet another necessary trip to the well to grab a bit of water, she might have been living a very monochrome and depressed existence at this point. 

Then Jesus offered her something exciting—a technicolor new reality filled with promise. He offered her His living water.  

So what are we to make of this offer of living water, especially as it relates to transcendence?

First, we need to see the teachings of Jesus as alive. Not just as words on a page, not just as commands being handed down by church hierarchies, not just as a pleasant Sunday “pick-me-ups” to be forgotten about by Monday. But as chemically alive spells which have the ability to transform our hearts and minds and transport us to a different reality, one that isn’t as myopically distracted by the banality of this world’s striving. 

Cup your hands into the shape of a bowl and picture Jesus pouring this living water out for you. The water doesn’t leak to the ground. It doesn’t evaporate. And neither does it sit motionless and listless. It bubbles, it swirls, it rises into steam and comes back to liquid. It is supernatural alchemy before your very eyes. It has the capacity to work miracles: to heal wounds and illness, to give companionship to the lonely, to give meaning and direction to those who have lost their way. It has the ability, if consumed regularly, to become an eternal spring of love and energy and inspiration within the drinker. It has the ability, if drunk with faith, to conquer death and give the drinker—instantaneously—eternal life. John 5:24 says “I assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”)

Do you ever feel as if life has beaten you down in certain respects? Has it left you feeling jaded or tired? Then hold out your hands and allows Jesus to pour a ladle of this living water out for you. It is cool and refreshing, but also vibrant and full of sparkling energy. Drink it deeply, and picture how it is working new life deep within you—healing wounds, creating inspiration, and cultivating spiritual connection. 

We mentioned above how this Samaritan woman “had baggage,” which is another way of simply saying she had lived a while on this complicated planet. She’d lived a human and imperfect life, trying to find companionship, trying to find provision, trying to find excitement, often falling victim to her own desires, demons, and likely stupidity. 

Doesn’t this describe all of us?

Thankfully, the living water offers us a way to clear out the baggage. Its tide sweeps over the dirt and grime that is our past and leaves us with a clean slate. This is true forgiveness and redemption. Over and over again this water washes us. Its mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). 

Are you riddled with guilt or regret regarding something in your past? Does your baggage seem much too heavy and burdensome? Allow Jesus to take it from you so that you can walk as a free man or woman once again. Allow His living water to wash over you and cleanse you. It will. 

Has this past season of life been difficult for you? Do you find yourself constantly trapped by the stresses and disappointments, ruminating on them to the point where it is difficult to move through the day with any sort of energy? Then allow the living water to wash the difficult season away so that a fresh new beginning is possible. The water brings fresh starts if you let it. 

Drink this water deeply on a daily basis, and immerse yourself in it as you would in an ocean. 
As you do so, picture a return to the womb. Put your head beneath the living water and hold your breath. Allow the concerns of the world to fade away. The sounds and sights of humanity’s struggles and games, they are blocked by immersion in the living water. This is a place of peace. This is a way in which the living water allows a person to transcend the material concerns and stresses of the world. At any time we can immerse ourselves in the living water, an environment that is free of these things, and by doing so we can rise above calamity and worry and recenter ourselves. 

We can also reach a new and higher state of being by allowing the living water to wash away mental and emotional debris. Worries about the past, worries about the future, negative self-talk, disturbing and random interjections, feelings of worthlessness, and general feelings of unease that are difficult to pinpoint in cause: These are the stray items of garbage that dirty up our daily existence. These are the things that make it difficult to really connect with God and others; these are the things that make it difficult to engage with the present moment. 

Allow the living water to clear these things away, to help empty your mind and heart of negativity. Allow it to bring you into the present moment with a clear-head and open heart. This clear and present consciousness is transcendent, higher than the norm. Pursue it throughout your days. 

Finally, this living water gives a supernatural ability to us. It gives us the ability to survive and rise about difficult times when we are feeling exhausted and depleted. It gives “supernatural refreshment” by allowing us to draw true strength from the word and power of God. 

The Apostle Paul writes that “Even though we are outwardly wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” This is the living water, the eternal spring within us. The fountain of youth that never runs dry. 

When we are wondering how we will survive a challenge because we are in pain, fatigued, or depleted of material resources, we can tap into the miraculous strength and provision that comes with the living water. This allows us to focus on Jesus, and by doing so our spirit is renewed and our energy replenished on a deeper level. 

It has been said, “The grass is greener where you water it. I would add, “The grass is really greener where you water it with Jesus’ living water.” No matter where we find ourselves—no matter what tiring or difficult situation or circumstance—we can find the energy to get by with this water. 

When we feel as if our well has “run dry,” the living water gives us supernatural refreshment. The body might be weak, but the spirit is alive and able to nudge us forward with renewed hope and purpose. 

The next time you wake up feeling depleted, wondering where the strength will come from for another day – imagine the living water of Jesus rising up from deep within you as a refreshing spring, giving life to each cell of your body and lending meaning to your day. There is a way to get through the day with Jesus, no matter how difficult the day might seem, and there is always a purpose to the day when we are focused on spiritual connection, no matter how banal the responsibilities might seem. There is a greater spiritual reality above all of it. 
The living water allows us to transcend by allowing us to see beyond the physical and material frustrations we are faced with. It shows a larger picture, a “refreshed vision.” 

In times of struggle and stress, our mentality often reverts to that of a high schooler. The problem seems like “the end of the world,” or perhaps as if they are large enough to fill the world in which we find ourselves. But Jesus says that by drinking the living water we can find the miraculous spiritual reality which is eternal life. In this bigger picture, our problems of the here-and-now shrink in size and importance. The living water gives us a hopeful and transcendent perspective. 

As the Apostle Paul wrote: “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.” (Romans 8:18) 

The next time you find yourself thinking that your current problems are big enough to fill the earth ten times over, take a deep drink of the living water and allow that transcendent offering to carry you outside the earth. Allow it to show you infinite space and the neverending presence of God’s light and love.  

Sitting within this majestic view, the problems and material concerns of this life shrink down in size. That gives peace. 

To summarize, Jesus’ living water allows us to transcend the baggage, difficulties and banalities of this world by:

1)    Giving us a living source of refreshment, love, wisdom, and vision in any and every situation.

2)    Washing away baggage of the past and offering us a fresh new start, over and over. 

3)    Washing away the mental and emotional junk that keeps us from present-moment living. 

4)    Giving us energy and fortitude in times of depletion. 

5)    Washing the earthly dirt from our nearsighted eyes in order to show us a greater and eternal spiritual reality. 

The living water of Jesus is endless in supply and limitless in the ways it can renew and elevate us. Drink of it often, and immerse yourself in it each day to experience important measures of transcendence. 

Prayer: 

Dear God, I desperately thirst for your living water. Today, right now, I hold out my hands to receive it. I vow to drink of it, and to allow it to wash over me daily. Please bless this supply of living water so that I can rise above my fears and worries and leave behind the baggage and personal junk that keep me from truly living at times. When I am intently focused on my problems to the point they are all I can see, allow your living water to show me a larger and much more beautiful reality. Clear my mind, give peace to my heart, and breathe life into my life each day.