Come to the Waters.

John 4.7-14

Theme

Christ the Living Water.

This week’s lessons teach us about the only One who can truly satisfy spiritual thirst.

Lesson

This is what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying. He is promising to place a spring within the life of anyone who will come to him. This spring will be eternal, free, joyous, and self-dependent. But he is also warning you that you will never be able to bulldoze anything over it.

We try, of course. I have done it myself; I know of many others who have believed in Christ but who have come to a place in their lives where his way seems inconvenient, and who have tried to stifle his presence by piling some foreign substance over the spring. Some have said, "Well, I’m glad that I’m saved, but I’m going to go my way while I’m young. I’ve paid too much attention to religion in my youth. Now I’m just going to cover it up." So they try. But instead of succeeding they discover that God just comes bubbling through.

Let me ask another question: What happens when a spring comes bubbling through dirt? The answer is: It produces muddy water. Is it the spring’s fault? No! The fault lies in the dirt that has been pushed on top of it. Does this describe your life? Perhaps it does. Are you a Christian who has run from God trying to cover over his presence but instead only had your life filled with muddy water? If this does describe you, why don’t you allow the Lord Jesus Christ to remove the dirt and purify the spring of his life within you?

Let me warn you that you cannot go your own way indefinitely. You will never get away with that. God must be true to his character. And God says that in his holiness he is determined to perfect the image of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, within you. You see, if God were to allow you to go any way you want and make a success of it, then he would be a liar when he says that Jesus Christ in the only way, the only truth, the only life; and God is no liar. And so he will make a mess of your life, a ruin of your life, if he has to, until you come to the point where you will let him perfect that work in you which he began when you first tasted of the Lord Jesus.

Will you trust him? Will you yield to him? If you do, he will satisfy any longing that you may ever have had. He put it there in the first place. And he will do with you that which is pleasing in his sight and which will bless others.

Study Questions

• What sort of spring does Jesus desire to   place within us?

• Why is it impossible for a believer to depart from God?

Reflection

Is your life filled with a clear spring or muddy water?

Key Point

Jesus will satisfy any longing that you have ever had.

This daily devotional study is from the Bible teaching of Dr. James Boice on the broadcast The Bible Study Hour. You may order the audio version of his studies here.