Water
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37)
At the Feast of the Tabernacles, Jesus arrived at the annual pouring out of the water and announced that He was the water of life that could be drunk from and from which satisfaction would be obtained. What an open invitation! If any man was thirsty, just come to Him and drink!
Have you ever noticed how much in life is made up of water? For years when someone would draw a picture of earth, make a globe or describe the appearance of earth it was usually done with the color green. Often you would hear earth described as the green planet. However, since man has been involved in space travel, we have seen the appearance of the earth, from outer space as blue. Now it is more often referred to as the blue marble in the universe, rather than the green planet. The reason we see earth as blue is due to the high volume of water; no less than three fourths of the earth is covered by water. So much of earth is immersed in water that it creates the appearance of a blue planet. Human, animal, and plant life are totally dependent upon water. Other than the air we breathe, nothing is more important to maintaining life than water. Over two thirds of a human being’s body is water. Blood is ninety percent water and even muscles contain 80-90% water. Water is so essential for life that a loss of less than twenty percent of it will result in a painful and horrible death. A normally healthy person can live only seven to ten days without water. The longest recorded length of life on the ocean without water is eleven days. The average man takes in through the water he drinks or in the food he eats about a ton of water per year!
How appropriate that Jesus uses water to illustrate the life He has in store for us.
1. Water Illustrates Salvation
John 4:14, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Isaiah 12:3, “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”
I appreciate the wording of John 4:28, “The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men....” After the woman at the well received of Jesus the water of life, she was able to leave her waterpot because she took the whole well with her. Salvation is like the old artesian well that keeps on replenishing itself, draw after draw, year after year. Salvation and its benefits will keep replenishing itself throughout your earthly life. Then when you finally arrive in glory, you will sit down by the crystal river and enjoy eternal life. Psalm 46:4, “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.”
2. Water Illustrates the Joy that Jesus Gives
John 4:46, “So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine.”
Jesus performed His first recorded miracle at a wedding. It was here He took the ordinary water and turned it into the fruit of the grape, which so often speaks of celebration and commemoration such as in the Lord’s Supper. Too many times we see salvation as something that places us into a rigorous, laborious, “kill-joy” attitude. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
3. Water Illustrates The Conquering of Christ
Matthew 14:25, “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.”
Normally when one approaches water during a storm, he or she will be pulled beneath the waves. During this storm our Lord walks out upon the waves! Oftentimes when people are going through crisis, we use the terms, “I’m almost washed up,” “waves of sorrow,” or “stormy waters.” It is a blessing to know that during this storm our Lord conquered the waves, even allowing one of his own to walk out upon the water with Him. When Peter began to sink beneath the waves, he cried out and found deliverance from the Lord.
Is there a storm raging in your life today? Why not allow our Lord to do for you what He was able to do for Moses—part the water; or for Peter—walk on the water; and for the disciples—still the troubled water? Mark 4:41, “And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
-Pastor Pope-