Friday, November 9, 2007

water, water everywhere

I was thinking about the importance of water: the earth and our bodies are composed of 50-80% of water; a baby in a womb is surrounded by water; we can live for over 40 days without food--but less than a week without water. With water, we are baptized, cleansed, cooled, quenched, hydrated. Dehydration can kill you--obvious, I know, but still profound when you think of water Biblically-speaking.

Yeshua calls Himself the "living water" when He spoke to the woman at the well:

John 4: 10-14 - Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 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.” (NKJV)

and in the Tanakh Isaiah 55 from the (
Jewish Publication Society Tanakh 1917)
1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye for water, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your gain for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

There are many more "water" references throughout the Bible. Here are a few others: Yeshua turns water into wine at a wedding; tells blind man to wash in Pool of Siloam after making mud and applying it to his eyes; water and blood flow from His side on the cross.

And of course water can damage and even kill--previous posts about Noah & the flood.

How many times is water mentioned in the Bible? According to this article: 722.

Interesting to note that water in Israel is precious because there is so little of it as Israel is largely desert.

Water Bible Study

So when Yeshua says He is the Living Water, what is He saying to His followers? Simply put, He seems to be saying "Drink Me," perhaps meaning drink in His character, His direction, His example, His Word--as He is the Word. I guess this question follows: What percentage of our spirit is Living Water?

1 comment:

Kathryn said...

"water from the side of Christ, wash me" from the Catholic devotional prayer Anima Christi