Hungry and Thirsty

There was a woman who lived a promiscuous life. She dated a little here and there and even attempted marriage a whopping five times but neither one was successful. I consider her to be quite the romantic because honestly, who is attempting marriage more than twice? Unless of course alimony is involved then by all means try it as much as you can. Said woman had enough faith in love that no matter how many times her heart suffered under the wielded swords of her lovers, she remained willing and able to give her best time and time again. This time, in an attempt to be more careful she chose to try the avenue of cohabitating. You know what they say, "you never know a man until you live with him." Frankly I think anyone can keep a charade up but that is neither here nor there. I find this idea of cohabitating interesting. Many swear by it saying that it gives a sneak peek into the day to day life with your partner. They say it helps weed out the unserious and slobby partners which in turn prevents the risk of failed relationships. It is supposed to serve as the probationary period before the lifetime commitment. Back to our lady. She starts living with her man and everything is going alright but the nagging desire to officialize their relationship via marriage starts trickling in. One day, she decides that she will head to the village well and fetch some water. She does this late in the evening because in these parts, women and men did not live together, before marriage let alone sleep together. As she approached the well, she found another person there as well. To her shock this person was a man. They start conversing and this man tells her all about herself. He even tells her of her shacking partner. By now you probably know that this is the cliff notes to John chapter four. Jesus, the man by the well is having a conversation with the Samaritan woman and he says something that stood out to me he said “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” - John 4:13-14. Like the woman, I too want to drink that living water. Can you imagine never being thirsty both literally and figuratively? Well in John 6:35 we see Jesus saying the same thing again. He says "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" John 6:35. The Greek definition of the word 'hungry' means 'to suffer want or to be needy.' The Greek definition of the word thirsty means 'those who painfully feel their want of, and eagerly long for, those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, strengthened.' Let me break this down further - when Jesus proclaimed himself as the bread of life who tackles our hunger, he meant this; He is the only one that can effectively attend to our needs and our wants. When he proclaimed himself as the living water, he meant that only he can effectively quench that painful desire that your soul craves. Only he can provide a soulful refreshing, support and strengthening. The Samaritan woman had a longing in her heart to belong. She wanted to be loved. She wanted for her shame to be erased. Jesus looked at her and said, I can be that for you. If you believe in me, trust in me, look to me, not only will I quench that desire, but you will never have to suffer any want or need. I think it very encouraging that my savior attends to both my wants and my needs. Needs are vital. Wants are optional and Jesus is saying even those things that the world may consider trivial about you, I know them. I see them. I can and will attend to them in a way that is beneficial to you and glorifying to me. The Samaritan woman runs back to her village this time without any shame or fear of being judged. She tells everyone that she has met a man who told her all about herself. She had met the Messiah. Jesus does that to you. He gives you beauty for ashes, glory for shame and the most beautiful part, he gives us salvation.

PS: Feel free to drop a comment below. I read every single one. Tell a friend to tell a friend as well. -Kalunde