Water that Satisfies the Soul

I recently visited the Coon Rapids dam near my house. The roar of the Mississippi at near record levels is remarkable as it overflows banks and supersaturates a once crusty soil. In a time when the region desperately needs precipitation, water is a welcomed sight. Maybe it is because I like to nerd out on Bible themes, but as I observed the awesome force of the water, I recalled the frequent water images in the Bible.

Water in the Prophets

It is not surprising that the biblical writers often utilize water imagery when the eastern Mediterranean climate depended upon the rainy season for daily life (Deuteronomy 11:13-17). For example, the prophet Joel describes restored Zion with the imagery of wine saturated mountains, hills flowing with milk streams, and water gushing from the temple (Joel 3:18). In Ezekiel’s vision of the renewed Jerusalem, water pours from the temple threshold and eventually makes its way to the Dead Sea (Ezekiel 47:1-12). Zechariah speaks about “living waters” which originate in Jerusalem and form streams to the Mediterranean Sea and Dead Sea (14:8) at the day of the Lord. Water is a powerful image of new creation in the prophets.

Water in John

The Gospel of John frequently draws upon water imagery to refer to spiritual realities. Jesus tells the woman at the well, “Whoever drinks from the water which I will give him, will never again thirst, but the water which I will give to him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14 My Translation). While the prophets anticipated that water would flow from Jerusalem—and specifically from the restored temple—Jesus says that the water comes from him. In another episode, when Jesus is in Jerusalem for Succoth (the Feast of Tabernacles), he again uses water imagery: 

“On the last great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and the one who believes in me, let him drink. As the Scripture says, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his womb.’ This he said about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were about to receive” (John 7:37-39 My Translation). 

Jesus satisfies one’s spiritual thirst by sending the Spirit. The new creation the prophets longed for was coming to fulfillment in Christ.

Jesus Satisfies Your Spiritual Thirst

Christopher Watkin eloquently states that “every desire is, in the final analysis, a misdirected longing for God’s presence and his fullness.”[1] Or to state it another way, every thirst is a thirst for the life-giving water that only Jesus offers. When we try and satisfy our desires through family, work, leisure, education, addictions, and false gods, we will always be left spiritually dehydrated. Only the never-ending stream that comes from Jesus can completely quench our deepest longings and thirsts.

My challenge to you, is to think theologically about your longings, desires, and thirsts. Are you looking elsewhere to satiate a thirst that only Christ can satisfy? Jesus says that he offers living—running—water. His supply is never-ending. Only Jesus offers water that will overflow the banks of your life and bring new creation life to your dry and crusty soul.

[1] Christopher Watkin, Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2022), 432.