Good morning…
“Anyone who drinks water will soon become thirsty again,” Jesus said to end yesterday’s post. “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:13-14, NLT). I am now drawn to the Message translation of verse 14. “Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”
I ponder, “God, what is an artesian spring and how does one work?” As I google the phrase, timeless truth gushes forth. At our fingertips are fascinating facts.
- Since a gushing fountain of artesian water is a naturally occurring phenomenon, to receive the flow of fresh water no pumping is necessary.
- Confined in hidden reservoirs, artesian water is the finest water trapped beneath deep layer of porous rock, gravel, sand, limestone, or bedrock.
- These natural underground deposits, holding massive amounts of water, are replenished non-stop by the groundwater and the rain.
- Since so much positive pressure builds up beneath the aquifer, the layers of porous material, fresh water is pushed out without any assistance.
- Drilling a well from the surface of the land via the impervious layers leads to the rising of water in areas under the greatest pressure.
- The gushing fountain of endless water usually occurs at lower elevations, in the valley, found near lakes and rivers, surrounded by steep slopes.
So what is God teaching us? Eternal life becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within each person who chooses to drink in the water Jesus offers, God’s living Word. We are invisibly replenished, non-stop, forever. A gushing fountain of fine, living water naturally rises up from beneath the hardened layers of our human hearts. Without the heaviness of layer upon layer, no positive pressure would build up from within. Interestingly, this life-giving water freely flows from those thirsty heart living under the greatest pressure. “No pain, no gain,” might rightly fit here. The gushing fountain of Jesus Christ’s endless water supply usually occurs most often in the valleys of life, is quietly fed by groundwater from nearby bodies of water, and bubbles up from our innermost being as we are surrounded by life’s steepest slopes.
I am reminded again of an amazing visual of this very process. Many of us watched the Julie’s Dream video in yesterday’s post and marveled at the fresh, bubbling spring rising up from within the heart of my dear friend Julie Harlan. Julie drank daily from the living water Jesus freely offered her for forty-one full years, until stomach cancer suddenly transplanted her from earth to heaven. As we all can see in this vibrant video, Julie has now become a free flowing artesian well of live-giving water drilled deep beneath the surface of our everyday lives. Julie’s Dream will live on non-stop, eternally, to hand Nalgene bottles of Jesus’ living water to more and more thirsty young people living in the concrete valley of downtown Atlanta. Because of Julie, many will have the strength to climb the steep slopes surrounding them to tap into the deposit of living water hidden beneath their own hardened layers.
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:37, NIV).
This is Jesus’ invitation to every thirsty person across God’s great globe: “Come to me. Drink daily. Believe me. Together we will marvel at the living water flowing from within you, rising up as an artesian spring to welcome to me all who thirst.”
…Sue…
P.S. The picture and information shared in this blog post can be explored more fully in this article.
