The question about Living Waters

The question about this passage is whether we are still thirsty, never were thirsty or are actually drinking from the fountain of life?

John 4:14–15 (NASB 2020)

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw water.”

Has anyone read this portion of scripture and wondered whether they are drinking of the fountain of water that Jesus promised?

John 4:14–15 (NASB 2020)

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw water.”

Has anyone read this portion of scripture and wondered whether they are drinking of the fountain of water that Jesus promised
The question about this passage is whether we are still thirsty, never were thirsty or are actually drinking from the fountain of life?

Many in those times were familiar with the concept of frequent sacrifices needing to be made at regular intervals. Jesus' Atonement was a once for all time thing. Drink once from the fountain of His Salvation, and then just follow Him for the rest of our days.

We are to feed on His Word daily, but the context you refer to is talking about initial salvation.

Jesus was speaking of salvation, the woman did not understand, and thought He was speaking of earthly water.......yet, He continued to speak with her, and she not only understood, she took the Gospel message to her village......

Great question chess-player!

I always found this passage a bit odd... like Jesus was messing with her a little bit? Like teasing, not in a bad way. He caught her out about having five husbands, argued with her about where God's temple was supposed to be... it's an example of Jesus treating women as partners in debate and discussion (which shocks his disciples). And she teases him too, "oh yeah? where's the water smart guy??" She probably knows he's talking about mystical things, but she gives him a hard time right back. And then she realizes he is claiming to be messiah and she runs back home without even taking her water.

But anyways, I think Jesus must be talking about Holy Spirit using mystical language and imagery. Holy Spirit is placed in us by Jesus and then eternal life springs forth from it.

Another possibility is that Jesus is talking about water as the purifying substance (in order to become ritually clean). The passage mentions that Jews and Samaritans didn't even share objects because it was understood there would be cross-contamination (spiritually speaking). But Jesus is saying there will be a day when we are all made pure from within and don't have to stress about ritual cleanliness.

There also might be something going on with the topic of Jacob's well (the location that the story takes place in), but we are missing the context that Jesus and the Samaritan woman had. Does anyone know more about that?

Feeding on His word is not enough. Many persecuted believers were in jail for years and were left without a Bible, yet they were refreshed on a regular basis by the Spirit of God despite their lack of the written voice of God. What they did, and what I have been doing for years was to feed on the Spirit in a state of total quietness, especially at night. Praying in the Spirit, laying completely still and asking the Lord to let Himself known is the sweetest thing I have ever tasted (Ps. 34:8). 😇

God calls Himself "the fountain of living waters." Water is used quite frequently in Scripture to allude to Him... so
often, in fact, that when people insist it is earthly water that cleanses us of our sins, I am somewhat flabbergasted.


Isaiah 12:2-3

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• John 4:10 . . 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.

Structurally; the usual well is basically a below-ground cistern where water
can seep in from an aquifer. It's not "living" because it's sedentary. In
contrast, living water is fresh right out of an artesian spring and/or taken
from a brook directly fed by melting snow and/or ice.

In either case, living water is active rather than sedentary and back then
(when all water was safe to drink) artesian water and babbling brooks were
preferred over well water for human consumption because well water tends
to become stagnant and/or tainted over time if it's not protected from dust,
insects, drowned rats, and so forth: for example the well that Jacob used to
water Rachel's stock was covered by a heavy stone. (Gen 29:2)

Jesus later identified his living water as Gods spirit.

• John 7:37-39 . . If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever
believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow
from within him. By this he meant The Spirit, whom those who believed in
him were later to receive. Up to that time The Spirit had not been given,
since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

And then there's this:

• John 4:14 . .The water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes
a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.

I think it probably goes without saying that if Jesus' living water gives its
drinkers eternal life, then what more could they possibly want?!

* We should back up for a bit and return to one of Jesus' previous
statements, in John's gospel wherein he said:

• John 3:5 . . I tell you the truth: no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

The water in Jesus' statement is commonly assumed pertaining to ritual
baptism; but according to his forthcoming statements in John's gospel and
in the book of Revelation; the water is for neither washing nor bathing, rather,
it's for drinking; and it's available to anyone and everyone who wants it.

• Rev 21:6 . .To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the
spring of the water of life.

• Rev 22:17 . .Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let
him take the free gift of the water of life.

BTW: My preferred artesian water is a brand called FIJI because it contains a
number of natural elements that help our bodies remove the aluminum we
accumulate from processed foods, cosmetics, and certain personal care
products. Bottled water processed by reverse osmosis is pretty much ruined.
_

Feeding on His word is not enough. Many persecuted believers were in jail for years and were left without a Bible, yet they were refreshed on a regular basis by the Spirit of God despite their lack of the written voice of God. What they did, and what I have been doing for years was to feed on the Spirit in a state of total quietness, especially at night. Praying in the Spirit, laying completely still and asking the Lord to let Himself known is the sweetest thing I have ever tasted (Ps. 34:8). 😇

how could you possibly give out of the well of your inner being to someone
who does not know the Lord?

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I myself much prefer that people follow Jesus' instructions by requesting the
living water he spoke of directly from its source.

• John 4:10 . . 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.

• John 7:37 . . If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

• Rev 21:6 . .To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the
spring of the water of life.

• Rev 22:17 . .Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let
him take the free gift of the water of life.

• John 6:37 . . They that come to me I absolutely will not reject.
_

That is also feeding on the Word.

John 1:1
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

I guess you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Are you a Christian? If you are, on what basis do you believe you are
accepted by God?

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I'm not listening to you chess-player. I sincerely believe you are not only a
bad influence, but also one of the strangers about whom Jesus spoke; so it's
off to the abyss you go on permanent Ignore.

• John 10:4-5 . . And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before
them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no
means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the
voice of strangers.
_