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.”
Years ago we were invited to spend a few days at the Wisconsin vacation home of some friends at FBCG. Before leaving on our trip, the owner of the home encouraged us to be sure to visit the “well” – which he promised produced the best fresh water we would ever taste. On the last day of our stay we realized that we hadn’t visited the well yet, and knowing our friend would ask, we jumped in the van and drove the few miles to where he said we would find this great water.
We expected to find a kind of tourist attraction – but instead found a simple pipe sticking out of the ground next to a farmer’s field. The pipe had no spigot – no way to turn the flow of water on or off – it was just gushing water out onto the ground. We filled a small jar with the water and found it to be the coldest, freshest, best tasting water we had ever enjoyed – and it was just pouring out onto the ground! Before leaving I noticed a small plaque on the ground near the well – and while I don’t remember the wording exactly – it said something like this:
“This well was created when a local farmer struck an artesian spring in 1895. Since then, this well has produced (something like) 1000 gallons of fresh water every hour.”
After reading the plaque I just stood there stunned for a few moments as the magnitude of those numbers sunk in. One thousand gallons of the freshest water I ever tasted had been pouring out of that little pipe every hour, 24 hours a day; 365 days a year – for over a century! It’s been flowing out, crystal clear and absolutely free for the entire length of my life, my father’s life and part of his father’s life! And all we had to do was bring a bucket and catch it to enjoy it.
It strikes me that that artesian well in Wisconsin is a perfect picture of the life and love of Jesus.
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.”
The love of Jesus is both inexhaustible and completely free. It flows 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – all we have to do is open our hearts and catch it!
Take a few moments to thank Jesus for the depth of his love for you – and to drink deeply from the well of his grace!
Pastor Brian Coffey
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