...But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
John 4:14
Anchors aweigh! Sadly too many people have never put down their anchors and are drifting aimlessly through life navigating its treacherous waters with only a smattering of religion. Their faith is anchored firmly in mid-air, causing them to fall prey to Bible-toting, Scripture-quoting servants of Satan. Their problem is that they often only have a fractured, partial picture of God:
Some see God as their personal VALET, who is at their beck and call to use for their convenience.
Some see God as an ARBITRATOR, with whom they can negotiate and strike deals.
Some see God as a PUSHOVER with a puppy dog personality. They treat Him like a senile, old grandpa, who doesn’t really see what is going on; and if He does, He can’t or won’t do anything about it.
Some see God as a TEACHER, who grades on the curve. They figure that sin can’t be all that bad, because everybody does it. They just need to make sure they don’t do it more than most.
Some see God as an INSURANCE POLICY. They figure they better tag all the bases including the God-base, so they keep God handy in case of emergency. In the meantime they tuck Him neatly away on a shelf somewhere, where He won’t get in the way.
Some see God as REMOTE; far-removed from the hurt of a bereaved parent; distant from the disillusionment of a person in a confused and confusing world.
Not surprisingly they don’t know how spiritually thirsty they are. Do we ever find ourselves in those same spiritually dehydrating doldrums with a distorted view of who God is and how God works?
That’s why we need God’s Law in all its severity, exposing human nature for what it is: a desert-dry, parched wasteland with the hot breath of hell blowing over it. The devastating sin-seeking missiles of God’s Law must expose our weaknesses, expel our false securities, and explode our human pride. Only then can we see our Savior and receive the blessings of His salvation. The Law creates a thirst for the Lord’s “living water.”
Once that thirst has been created Jesus doesn’t leave us high and dry. He quenches that thirst once and for all: “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.” This “living water” that Jesus dispenses quenches the fires that the Law had stoked. It soothes the parched souls of those who had drunk deeply from the well of this world’s brackish and bitter waters.
Jesus says that those who drink of His living water will find that it will “become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” What is that “living water?” It’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News that we have a Substitute for and a Savior from our sins. We know Him well through His Word, the well that dispenses the “living water.” This Lenten season may our faith drop anchor in that living water and remain securely moored to it until heaven is our home. Amen.
Rev. Tim Unke
Crean Lutheran High School