The Source

Jeremiah 2:13
"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

John 4:10-15
"Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water."

How often do we run around trying to dig our own wells and find our own water sources to satisfy our aching and thirsty souls? And yet with every passing moment we are left dry and broken. We spend so much time trying to use different buckets that we fail to recognize that the problem isn't that we have the wrong bucket; it's that we're standing at the wrong well.

The issue often isn't our method, it's our source. Instead of trying harder, being more passionate, investing in different ministries or people, job-hopping, etc... Let's go back to the source and make sure we're drawing from the Lord, not our own ideas of what will satisfy. His Word sustains, and in His presence is fullness of joy. What is it about our nature that reaches for that promotion at work, or a relationship with this person, or a new wardrobe, or moving to this great city to fill the longing in our hearts? And each time those things fail, we, like Israel, look to another finite source to run after. We become disillusioned with one passion, but instead of considering the root of the problem, we simply slap a bandaid on it and run after the next thing that catches our attention. And all the while, Jesus is standing next to us saying "The bucket isn't the problem." If we would stop long enough to listen we would quickly realize He truly does offer water that never runs dry. He IS the well.

So the next time you end up feeling dry and empty from whatever you're chasing, instead of reaching for a different bucket, turn around and make sure you're standing at the Well of Living Water.