The Fountain of Living Waters

When I hear the word fountain, I think of something beautiful and pristine. The Lord refers to Himself in His Word as the fountain of living waters. He promises that those who come to drink from this fountain will not come up dry and empty, but with a cup that overflows. 

Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well and in John 4:14 declared to her "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing into everlasting life."

There's the word fountain again. Not only is the Lord referred to as a fountain of living water, but we can become a fountain by Him coming to dwell in us. What a beautiful picture. And yet how many of us come to the well to draw out water with holes in our cups, hoping that somehow we will be filled? I know I am guilty of doing such. 

Hold on a minute, you may think. Jesus promises us that we will have water springing into everlasting life in John. While this is true for salvation, for our continual walk with the Lord there are times we can come up dry when we come to His well. This is not because He does not provide us living waters or wants to hold back something great from us. It's usually because He has revealed something we need to make right and we have not heeded His voice. 

Jeremiah was a weeping prophet that spoke the word of the Lord to the nation of Israel of how they had forsaken God. Because of this, God was going to bring judgment on them. The Lord declared in Jeremiah 2: 13 "My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns-broken cisterns that hold no water." The nation of Israel knew what they were supposed to do. The Lord had instructed them in the way to go. But they ignored God's guidance and instead made themselves broken jars to bring to the well.

The people of Israel would soon discover that their best efforts at being filled would fail. They could not come to the fountain of living water and expect to be filled on their own terms when they wouldn't even listen to God in the first place. That's not how it works. In order to come to the well and have your cup overflow, you must be willing to come on His terms.

Salvation is promised to us and it's a free gift, but having the transforming work of the Holy Spirit active and truly effective in our lives is up to how we respond to His calling. I have been through this many times in my walk with Christ. The Holy Spirit is grieved within me for something I have done wrong and I know what it is. However, instead of making it right I make excuses and try to go on like it never happened. I keep wondering why I am not being filled with His living water and why I keep coming up dry every time I come to His Word.

And then because I have not heeded His gentle warnings, I get whacked with the truth of why I am coming up empty. It's because I refused to do what I knew was right and I tried to come to the well on my own terms with this sin in my heart. Christ wants us to come to the well, washed of our sins, and ready to act on what He calls us to do. God isn't going to speak something new to you if you are not listening to what He has already told you. 

So when you need to, go to the cross, lay down your pride and surrender your sin. Then when you have made things right with the Lord, come to the well and just see how He will fill you up.