Jesus Offers Us His Living Water

As water rains down from above to replenish the earth, Jesus rains down His unsurpassed blessings of love, salvation, and hope to replenish our souls.

Eternal Perspectives by Sally Bair

Living water / Jesus offers us His Living Water

I grew up near Minneapolis’s famous Minnehaha Falls, from which its Mississippi River water begins its journey southward at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota. It flows continuously for a total of more than 2,300 miles into the Gulf of Mexico.

Unlike the Mississippi, there is a river that does not have an outlet. The Dead Sea has its beginnings in the Jordan River, north of the country of Israel, which flows south into the Sea of Galilee, and continues its flow into the Dead Sea, where it ends. Galilee’s sea is where Jesus joined His disciples on fishing adventures, including the time He miraculously walked on the water. The sea’s inlet and outlet kept it constantly fresh and alive.

How can it be, we wonder, that Galilee’s same water that flowed between it and the Dead Sea produced life in one place and death in the other? The answer lies in giving and receiving. The Sea of Galilee, which receives its waters from the Jordan, gives back its same waters into the Jordan southward. The Dead Sea, conversely, receives but does not give back. We might call it a tight-fisted body of water. And because it withholds its water, the sea becomes stagnant. Dead. Barren. Considered two times saltier than ocean water, its only life is bacteria and algae.

We find that the lesson about these two waters can apply to our lives. When we continually receive but give nothing back in return, we become as stagnant as the Dead Sea. In giving, however, our lives teem with goodness, such as expressions of love, joy, peace, mercy, and much more.

“Give, and it will be given to you … for with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you,” Jesus told His followers. (Luke 6:38) When He sent his twelve disciples out to preach the Kingdom of God, He told them, “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

“He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7)

Lord, thank You for the bounty You keep giving us, like flowing water that never ends. May we, like the Sea of Galilee, keep allowing Your living water to flow out from us in love and goodness. Keep us from becoming stagnant, lifeless, and tight-fisted as we serve and obey You through Your Word and the power of Your Spirit. In Jesus’ name, amen.