Reflections on the Water

 by Jeri Johnson

A The Kids & Me Contributor

Like most neighborhoods in Charlotte, my neighborhood has experienced tremendous growth, both in residential and commercial establishments.  In order to accommodate the increased demand for utilities, the water in my complex may be shut off. This can last anywhere from several hours to an entire day.                     

Several weeks ago when my water was shut off, I decided to go walking in Freedom Park.  Many people were in the park enjoying the weather and God’s handiwork in nature.  After I had walked for almost an hour, I drank some water from one of the fountains and then I sat down to rest on one of the benches.  Two ladies whom I had never seen before approached me, introduced themselves, and asked if they could pray for me.  I readily accepted. Afterwards, I thanked them for the prayer and prayed for them.

This incident reminded me of Jesus’s discourse with the Samaritan woman in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John.  Jesus asked her for water, and the woman was surprised that Jesus, being a Jew, would ask her, a Samaritan woman, for water.                             

Jesus responded, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, ‘Give Me a drink’, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you “living water.”  ~John: 4:10

Jesus further told her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” ~John 4:13-14

Our desire should be the same as the Samaritan woman:  that we should have the living water and that we do not thirst again.  Just as the body cannot survive without natural water, the spirit cannot survive without Spiritual Water.  That Spiritual Water is Jesus Christ.  We receive that Water when we spend time in prayer and reading the Scriptures.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” ~John 6:35      

I finished my walk and left the park, thankful for both the natural water and the Spiritual Water that had been provided. By the time that I reached my house, the water in my complex had been restored, and I was able to take a much-anticipated shower.  Praise God!