In one of the busy thoroughfares in Glasgow, there stands a pretty fountain which bears the name of “Little Folks’ Fountain.” It received this name because it was provided for by the pennies of a great many boys and girls in many parts of the world, who desired to provide a free drink of pure Loch Katrine water to anybody and everybody in the great city. On a hot summer day, I saw a crowd of thirsty schoolboys quenching their thirst at the fountain.
As I stood looking upon the fountain, its crowd of thirsty school boys, its free drinks for “whosoever will,” I thought of another Fountain to which God invites all who thirst.
John the Evangelist tells the story of how the Lord Jesus, weary and thirsty, sat by the well of Sychar. A poor sinful woman from the city came there with her pitcher to draw water. The Lord Jesus asked her for a drink. She was surprised that He, being a Jew, would ask a drink from a poor despised Samaritan woman. But the Lord Jesus said to her: “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.” John 4:1010Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10).
Then the blessed Saviour went on to show the difference between the water that was in the well and the living water that He gives. Said He: “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13,1413Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:13‑14).
The “living water” is the Holy Spirit sent down from above, whom He gives to all those who own Him as Saviour and put their trust in Him, those whose sins He has washed away in His precious blood. That living water first quenches our thirst, and then it becomes a springing well in the heart of the believer—flowing back up to God in worship.
The water in the well would tell us of this world’s pleasures, which only satisfy for the moment. They do not give lasting joy; but the living water that Jesus gives to all who come to Him satisfies and rejoices the heart forever.
Dear reader, Have you this living water?
Jesus gave her water,
That was not in the well.
She went away singing,
And came back bringing
Others to the water
That was not in the well.
ML 04/18/1965