Roots for the Living Water

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.  The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”  John 4: 13-14

Last August Walt and I went to Clinton, Iowa to visit our son Dan, his wife Stacy and their two little children. Dan was at work and Stacy suggested it would be fun to take Matthew and Kelsie to a playground they like. It sounded wonderful until we stepped out into the steamy August heat. We went to a lovely small playground on the shore of the Mississippi River. It was completely shaded by a huge cottonwood tree. I do mean huge! I think it would have taken all three of us with outstretched arms to encompass its girth. The bark was smooth with age and down one side an old lightning strike had weathered to a silver ribbon. I leaned against that silky smooth strip and looked up. There were only a few dead branches and the tree showed new growth on almost every limb. Across the way on a bluff the other cottonwoods were yellow with drought but this one was green and vital. The reason was clear. The roots of this tree were deep in the underground water of the river and the tall dike protected it from floods. Its very leaves whispered of life.   

Christ’s message to the woman at the well is His message to us. In His birth, life, death and resurrection, we too find the Living Water for our life. Roots that go down to that water can withstand the droughts life brings. Life Surrounded by prayer can withstand floods that otherwise would overwhelm us. Jesus finished His conversation with that Samaritan woman by saying, “God is a spirit and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us worship You with our spirit and with the truth of Your Son, Jesus. Lead us to that Living Water of Life that we may better serve You and more surely know the Eternal Life promised to life promised to us by our Lord. Amen. 

Dot French (reprinted from Eastridge Devotion book, 2008)