'Living Water'

At the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood and cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:37–38). Imagine the scene: a people remembering how God gave water in the desert, now hearing Jesus declare that He Himself is the source of true refreshment. Not dry springs. Not polluted streams. But living water—fresh, flowing, abundant. Jesus alone quenches our deepest thirst for peace with God.

Yet so often we settle for less. As C.S. Lewis said, we are like children making mud pies in a slum when a holiday at the sea is offered to us. Today, it’s like binging on endless social media clips hoping for satisfaction, only to end up more restless and empty. Life with Jesus isn’t another scroll, trend, or craze—it’s a feast that satisfies, a river that never runs dry.

John tells us that Jesus was speaking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to all who believe (John 7:39). The early church loved this image of living water: Tertullian saw the Spirit as the power that makes baptismal waters come alive; Cyril of Jerusalem said the Spirit turns the dry heart into a watered garden; and Ambrose of Milan wrote, “The water of the Spirit flows ceaselessly; it never grows old, it never disappears. The grace of the Spirit is like a river whose course is never cut off, whose current is never exhausted.”

The Spirit brings us peace with God, empowers us to resist sin, and leads us into humility and truth. He trains us daily in “practical divinity,” helping us swim in God’s river of life—renewed, refreshed, and never running dry.

Refreshing others,

Jonathan