Drink Up!

DRINK UP!

INTRODUCTION: Normally this phrase is not associated with anything spiritual. But today, we will see that it's of ultra importance to drink up when it comes to the water Jesus offers.

1) Living water.

In John 4 we read about Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well. Jesus and his disciples were traveling from Judea to Galilee. The easiest way to do so was to go through Samaria. But the Jews didn't like Samaritans so they would go far out of their way just to avoid going through Samaria. But Jesus had a mission to accomplish; he wanted to purposely minister to the Samaritans.

And this would start with him having a one-on-one encounter with a woman-which was considered taboo for a Rabbi to do. But Jesus was all about tearing down walls-whatever stood in the way of the gospel he wanted to demolish.

After traveling for a while Jesus stops to rest and he sends the disciples into town to buy some food. While they were gone he has the encounter with the woman at the well.

John 4:7-14, "When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

She obviously didn't know who she was talking with. Jesus told her if you knew the gift of God you would have asked him for living water. Jesus isn't implying that she should have known, he's just stating the reality. Jesus is the gift of God because Jesus is the Messiah.

Rom. 6:23 says that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus. Before we can receive living water we first have to believe that it comes through Jesus, the gift of God. We try to fill up on so many others things; things we think will satisfy but they won't. Our belief system is flawed; our tanks are broken.

Jer. 2:13, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." We forsake God and turn to do things our own way. We try to fill our lives up with what we think will bring us happiness and fulfillment. But these things, these belief systems, these relationships are broken; they cannot hold water.

The only thing that can satisfy is to fill up from the spring of living water. We need to be washed clean and only living water can do that. Only Jesus can bring us the gift of eternal life. If we know this then we can come and draw from that wellspring.

"Will never thirst". This woman would need to continuously go to the well to get more water, just like the priests needed to sacrifice for the people year after year. But Jesus offers living water, where you only need to go to the well once and after that you will never thirst again because his sacrifice is for all time.

Heb. 7:27, "Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself." We don't need to become saved over and over. We don't need to be forgiven of our sins over and over. We may need to repent over and over again but our forgiveness was once because Jesus' sacrifice was once.

We have received the living water and we will never have to come to the well again. We will hopefully always be thirsty for Jesus and seek to be filled and overflowing with that living water but as long as we're sincere and we understand what we're doing and why, we only need to come to the waters of baptism once.