John 4:13
“Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
In this statement, Jesus was not referring to the human need for water consumption. He was referring to a thirst for righteousness, for life, for fulfillment and wholeness. This is something only Jesus can provide. Notice that He says that the water Jesus gives “becomes” in the human a fountain of water that springs up into everlasting life. This statement is reminiscent of Proverbs 14:27 which states that:
"27 The fear of the LORD [is] a fountain of life, To turn [one] away from the snares of death.”
The fountain of life is, in this age the Word of God on the inside of us. This Word can be composed of the written word of the Bible or it can be the Word that God speaks to the individual in their specific situation. If it is comprised of the latter, it will never contradict the Spirit of the former. Furthermore, in the age of the new Heaven and the new Earth, this Fountain of Life is an actual, physical river according to our Lord Jesus Christ in the book of the Revelation {Rev 22:2}.
Jesus told the woman at the well that He would give the water of thus dissolving all of her responsibility for the life. This is significant because it implies a “natural reaction” or an “instinctive response” to the supernatural catalyst. This fountain of everlasting life carries with it several benefits, the first among these being counsel according to Proverbs 20:5
"5 Counsel in the heart of man [is like] deep water, But a man of understanding will draw it out.”
The language used in Proverbs 20:5 is that a man of understanding will “draw it out.” I turn your attention to this phrase because the woman at the will chided Jesus in that she questioned His ability to give her water because she could see He had nothing to “draw” with. The woman clearly thought that Jesus was hitting on her - she had been “around the block” as they say and was doing her best to protect herself. However, Jesus wanted to her to understand that He had to go through Samaria on that particular day just to see her. The Word tells us that Jesus left Judea to go to Galilee but that He “had to go through Samaria” which IS NOT on the way…. God wanted to save this woman. He wanted to get to her heart so He showed up where she was. He told her that she needed to receive from Him. Then when the woman became defensive, Jesus, using the Spirit of the living God, drew out the counsel that was in His heart for this woman. He told her about her own past and did not condemn her. This is what she desperately needed… a man who would understand her but not in order to satisfy his own needs. Jesus perfectly demonstrated to the woman at the well that He had, flowing in Himself the river of living water and He, being a man of understanding drew out of this deep water to fill her…. to give her what she needed. Almost instantly, the woman recognized Him as the Messiah and went to the men of the town to spread the good news of the Messiah’s arrival.
The woman at the well needed life… that is why she was so given to changing relationships. She was obviously attractive and from her statements to Jesus she was strong willed and intelligent, however she had no idea how to get what she needed using her own means. Then Jesus showed up.
As soon as He told her about the living water, she asked Him for it {John 4: 15}. When she did this, she gave Jesus permission to manifest the heart of God toward her in effect bringing Proverbs 20:5 to life in that Jesus, the man of understanding, drew out of His own heart-which is also the heart of God- the counsel that this woman needed so that He could help her. Then she, completely unaware of her own reaction, played out both John 4:13 and Proverbs 14:27. She immediately gained a desire to seek the Messiah - which is to obey (fear) the Lord and which would turn her away from he snares of death {Proverbs 14:27}. Then once Jesus revealed who He really was to her in John 4:26, she left her own water pot and went to evangelize Sychar- her city. The fountain of living water that had just been installed in her heart was already springing up into everlasting life to such an extent that the woman couldn’t keep it to herself.
We too can see in our lives the effect of the fountain.
It is the nature of a fountain to be connected to an unseen source. It is also the nature of a fountain to continue on a cyclical path in its flow perpetually. Drawing from the source, pouring out from the top to the bottom, receiving the exposed water back into the source and renewing it again for use in another cycle, all in an undisturbed, beautiful pattern. This is the way of obedience to the Lord. This is its outward appearance the world in the life of the believer. A fountain cannot entirely be damned at the lowest point because the lowest point is closest the source. The source never halts motion, but perpetuates itself through the fountain so that its waters are protected from settling in the lowest regions. At last, it is the nature of the fountain to be a vessel for the waters of the source to flow from. Although the waters appear to flow from the fountain itself, they are in-fact the waters of the source and the fountain simply gives them shape and direction. The fountain of life is always on and it functions like a spigot. The more the believer obeys what they hear and read, the wider the spigot opens. The less that they obey what they hear and read, the more closed off it becomes. As water is essential to sustain life, so the Word of God is essential to sustain life.
This is what Jesus meant when He said that if anyone drinks the water that He gives, that person will never thirst again. There is life everlasting from the source of the fountain that never runs dry. This is why we, as believers continue to seek Him, continue to read His word, continue to pray…. we continue, our desire is perpetual and overflowing.
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