I sat on a fallen log to rest at Gravel Springs on the Appala­chian Trail. There I was able to drink from the crystal clear, icy cold spring water flowing from the mountainside. After a long, hot afternoon of hiking, the water tasted delicious.

Jesus stopped for a rest and a drink of water at a town in Samaria. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink. She was surprised that he would talk with her. In those days, Jewish people usually treated Samaritans with contempt. She was even more surprised when Jesus talked about the living water that he could give, saying it would become a spring “welling up to eternal life” to quench her thirst forever.

Water is essential for life. Nothing living can survive long without it.

But Jesus was not talking about physical water here. He was referring to himself. Jesus is the living water, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, eternal life will well up like springs of water in the hearts of all who love and follow him (John 7:38-39).

Without water, we can’t survive. Without the living water of Jesus, we are spiritually dead. But Jesus promises to give us living water that wells up and flows from within us, refreshing us and others in our daily walk with him.