I am always thirsty. I've lived in desert climates my entire life, so keeping a source of cool, fresh water around has become a necessary habit. I carry a water bottle with me virtually everywhere I go—the store, the post office, the bank—even if it's just a quick trip, I make sure to bring it along. It only takes a few minutes before my mouth feels dry, my throat begins to burn, and I'm stealing a refreshing sip of ice-cold water from the bright orange, metal container.
Recently, I've begun to notice another type of endless thirst in my life—the thirst for fulfillment. For satisfaction. An unquenchable craving for contentment. Suddenly it seems the things I once found purpose and meaning in have evaporated. My soul feels as though it is drying up and I'm left wandering through a barren desert, devoid of life or sustenance. The containers I usually keep on hand aren't holding water; the sources I've turned to in the past have run dry.
Christ's encounter with the woman at the well holds out a cup of much-needed living water to the thirsty, seeking soul. "And He had to pass through Samaria...Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, was sitting beside the well. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?' (His disciples had gone into town to buy food.) 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.)" (John 4:4, 6–9).
Now imagine the encounter if Jesus had said nothing. The woman at the well certainly wouldn't have initiated the conversation! Content to draw her water and return home, she would have found temporary satisfaction from the well and not given Christ another thought. In this, the Samaritan woman is an all too accurate picture of our far too easily satisfied souls: "...no one seeks for God. All have turned aside..." (Romans 3:11–12). We would rather labor for lesser satisfactions, for temporary fulfillments, than seek to know the living God!
But God in Christ is the great initiator of our souls. He is compelled to seek us out in our lost and hopeless state, not to condemn us, but to speak gentle critique into our lives with a few poignant words of truth. "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'" (John 4:10). Jesus cuts right to the chase: we seek satisfaction from earthly sources because we don't understand the nature of God's gift to us in Christ. We fail to comprehend Jesus as the only source of true, eternal satisfaction.
The woman's reply to Jesus has an earnest incredulity about it: "Sir...you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?" (John 4:11). Although the Samaritan woman is still talking about wells and springs, we know that Jesus is not. He is speaking about Himself—the fountain of living water—as the the sole source of the spiritual life and soul fulfillment we crave. Therefore, a deeper, truer sentiment echoes in the woman's words, and in our own hearts, than maybe we realize: But my desires for fulfillment are many; the well of my soul is deep, seemingly unreachable. I've tried so many things, but none of them satisfy... Can you really fulfill them all?
Jesus answers with a promise: "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 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" (John 4:13–14). Using the picture of continual thirst, Jesus illustrates the futility of seeking life apart from Him. Worldly wells may satisfy for a short time, but in the end they always leave us wanting more! Clearly, His point resonates with the woman. "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'" (v. 15).
Like the woman, we are all looking for the one thing that will make our lives feel complete. Whether that thing is a career, relationship, house, salary, children or health, Jesus promises that, even if we manage to obtain it, the satisfaction we feel from it will inevitably fade. Our thirst will return and we will start the same pursuit anew with a different object or goal in mind. Apart from Christ, the reward proves fleeting and the process futile. Paul knew this when he wrote the words, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).
Jesus goes on to address how the woman's search for satisfaction had led her into sin by asking her to come back with her husband (John 4:16). When she replies that she has no husband, Christ tells her, "You are right...The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband" (v. 17–18). Maybe the woman thought, If I can just get married, then I will find happiness and fulfillment. And when that failed, maybe she thought, If I can just find someone who is better for me, then I will be satisfied...and so on. But the truth is when we look for fulfillment and satisfaction without Christ, we create idols in our hearts—the gifts God means for us to enjoy become a substitute for Him.
In today's American culture, the woman's story seems to be the norm. Hollywood movies, Eastern religious mantras and incessant advertising have combined to create countless manufactured thirsts that can quickly be satisfied with the click of a button. From Prada to pornography, we're taught to "do what makes us happy," "follow our hearts," and "make our dreams come true." We're caught in an endless race for the newest thrill in the form of products, experiences and people. And when these things fail us or we tire of them we're told to "move on," that "we deserve better," and are encouraged to "take control of our lives."
While this may be considered normal to us, God describes it in a far more sinister light: "Be appalled, O heavens, at this: be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13). Did you catch that? Forsaking God while seeking ultimate fulfillment from the things of the world isn't just "The American Dream"; it's evil. And a shocking evil at that.
But why? I believe the two greatest reasons are because it denies God the glory due His name as our Creator and Savior, and because in doing so we become enemies to our own best interests. Whatever we turn to apart from God may flatter us, tantalize us and bring us temporary pleasures, but it can never truly profit us. Not in an eternal sense. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?" (Mark 8:36–37). We may gain everything we've ever wanted in this life, but it will profit us absolutely nothing in the end if death finds us apart from Christ.
At the end of Christ's conversation with the Samaritan woman, she returns to her village and tells everyone about the man she met at the well, the man who told her everything she ever did (John 4:29). Because of the woman's testimony, the Samaritans of that town asked Jesus to stay with them for two days and, as a result, many of them believed (vv. 39–41). But there is one minor detail that is mentioned in the text, one that could be easily overlooked. Before she returned and gave her testimony, the woman left her water jar (v. 28). You see, Christ cannot satisfy our souls if we are already "full." He cannot be our living water if we refuse to forsake our broken cisterns. He cannot quench our insatiable thirst if we will not stop drawing from worldly wells.
The pursuit of satisfaction in Christ is a lifelong endeavor. And we will not do it perfectly. We will pick up the jars we had once set down and dip into the well of fleshly pleasures. We will lose sight of the fountain of living water and turn again to stagnant pools. We will taste and see that the Lord is good, but in our foolishness believe that what the world has to offer is better. But God loves us too much to leave us in the mud puddle of lesser pleasures when a vast ocean of joy and fulfillment awaits us in Christ! So let's say with the woman, Give me this water! Let's leave behind our jars, and begin to plumb the depths of all that Jesus is for us who have placed our faith in Him. He promises we shall not be left unsatisfied!
Lord, I confess I have been filling myself with the things of the world instead of with You, the fount of living water. Help me leave behind my jars and seek ultimate fulfillment in You alone! Satisfy me with Your love, O Lord. Pull back the façade of worldly pleasures and expose them for what they truly are: lies of the enemy meant to destroy my soul. Fill me with Your joy, and may all other joys be kept in their rightful places. Thank you for the gifts You give me, but thank You most of all for the gift of Yourself. Help me to understand all that You are for me, and value knowing You above every other thing in my life. Amen.
Reflection Questions
- What are some things you thirst for in life that you’ve been looking to the world to satisfy?
- None of us desire Christ as we ought to—what competes with Christ for your affections the most?
- Christ compared Himself to living water, that is, a spring that bubbles up naturally out of the ground. How does this contrast spiritually with the image of a well that must be dug out by hand?
- Are there any areas of your life where your search for satisfaction has led you into sin? Take them to Christ in prayer.