"But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst...." (John 4:14) We live in the state of continual longings. We may call them different names - desires, needs, wants, hunger, lust or some more. In the gospel of John chapter 4, Jesus made this promise to the Samaritan woman, who seems so easily to represent people like you and me. "You shall NEVER thirst again." Never again? Really? This narrative begins with Jesus being thirsty. The hunger (verse 32) and thirst of God is unique. If we understood it, it would captivate us. In John 19:28, Jesus hanging on the Cross said, "I thirst." This is the longing of God Himself. God longs in His unconditional love to save every human being from the disaster of sin. Dear reader, if you haven't yet received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, then listen as Jesus makes the same promise to you. In verse 10, He said to this woman, "If you knew the gift of God (salvation, forgiveness of sins), and who it is that is speaking to you... you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." All you need to do is believe Him and receive the free gift of salvation. I am amazed at the boldness of the promise. I haven't heard of anyone in the human history making a promise like that. There were to be immediate ramifications of that promise. If you ask Him, you have the Living water and you will never thirst again. How can that happen? What is the rationale? It is easy to identify with this woman. In some ways she is the refection of our souls. We are people with deep insatiable longings. When Jesus explored this woman's life a bit, she came to the point of confessing multiple relationships. We don't fully know her story. But ours is not hidden from us. We make our own plans to satisfy our deep longings. And then we come back more thirsty. Next time we try to dig bigger wells. But nothing satisfies completely and permanently. Many men and women have had their lives led to destruction in that process. The man who lost his job due to his drinking habit, another who lost his family because of his search for success, the divorce proceedings that started just two years after the love marriage... Our world is full of such examples. In many ways, we ourselves are the examples. Yet, there is a profound promise. "You will never thirst again." This can be our prayer, "Lord, give me the Living Water." Here is the source of our longings, no matter whether these are bonafide or sinful. God declares in His Word in Jeremiah 2:12-14, "“Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror, declares the LORD. My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Our earthly longings are the broken cisterns while we were created to be satisfied in God Himself. God longs for us and we ought to be longing for Him. He is the Grand Lover, and we find greatest fulfillment in loving Him back. Bruce Marshall's protagonist Father Smith in her novel 'The World, The Flesh and Father Smith' makes this profound statement to miss Dana Agdala who was trying to explore his sexuality, "The young man who rings the bell at the brothel is unconsciously looking for God.” The real reason for our thirsty souls is our lack of satisfaction in God. C.S. Lewis wrote: “God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself. It is not there. There is no such thing.” Oswald Chambers comments, “There is only One Being who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.” The usage of the Greek word Zao for living not only represents an uncreated, eternal quality of life, but also an active, dynamic and fresh life which is on the move with the energy of God without any contamination. The dead, stable waters like well require a lot of maintenance, while streams and springs stay clean. The life that Jesus gives us can be filled with an amazing motivation, energy and freshness of love towards Him. We can follow Him with a first love many years later in the journey. We can be reading His Word with new excitement. We can be serving in smallest capacities in our Church with greatest joys. This is the Living Water. Study Psalm 119 and notice how often this godly man uses the word 'quicken'. This man drank of the Living Water. In Psalm 23:1, David had tasted the Living Water, so he could sing, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want!" But what happens to our longings. They need to be poured out at the Cross. In 2 Samuel 23:15 David had a similar longing for "the water from the well of Bethlehem." Three of his might men brought that water at the great risk of their lives. David was convicted by the Holy Spirit and he poured out that water to the Lord (verse 17). This is a beautiful reality. Take your deepest desires to the Cross. Jesus said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me..." Pour it forth unto the Lord. And drink the Living Water and live in the miracle of never thirsting again. PS - If you would like to enjoy a thought provoking spirituality quiz, then jump to our fun quiz page. You may also watch our YouTube videos. What about learning about life after death?