Youth Week 4

John 4:13-14

Our area, northwest Ohio, is suffering through quite a drought. It has been more than four weeks since we had less than ¾ inch of rain, and almost two months since we had a good rain that saturated the ground. The crops are suffering. The lawns are brown. The streambeds and ditches are drying up.

The need for refreshing, life-giving water is apparent. The thought of clear, flowing streams of water is a desperate longing many of us have. Life cannot exist without water. We cannot make it through even part of a day without drinking some liquid refreshment to keep us going.

Today’s passage is part of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at a well. What is the comparison he makes? What is the water he offers?

He had asked for a drink of water. She was there gathering the water she would need to make it through the day. A nice, cool cup of water on a hot and dusty day would be a welcome relief, but it would only be temporary.

So it is even with us. We can drink our fill until we are comfortable, but the need will quickly return.

But Jesus is talking about a different kind of water. Jesus is talking about the spiritual refreshment that life in the Holy Spirit offers.

Just as our daily activities and efforts will make us physically thirsty, so living in the world can make us spiritually thirsty. We may find ourselves longing for the comfort and strength, the new life, which only God can give. Dealing with daily temptations, struggling with problems and fears can wear us out. Our souls can be thirsty for some type of respite, some type of comfort, some type of energy.

We can find that by living a life that follows the teaching of Christ and is obedient to the will of God. We can be refreshed when we accept that Jesus is our Savior. And that refreshment is not a temporary respite from our struggles, but it is a constant refreshment for us, a constant wellspring of living water that fills us again and again. The presence of Jesus in our life, in our thoughts and our attitudes can keep our souls refreshed and welling up with living water that is the love of God.

Our youth offered water to strangers during their SOS experience. With that encounter they had the opportunity to invite spiritually thirsty people into a new life with Christ, into a relationship that involves the living water of Jesus.

Their ability to be compassionate and caring, their ability to be willing to share the good news with strangers, should be a refreshment to our souls. It should cause us to have that living water of God – the love of the Holy Spirit – well up in us that we might also be willing to spread the message of Christ.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Can you share the living water of Christ with anyone?