Live Free with Josh Howerton - Living Water VS. Well Water | Ep. 408 | Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Episode Date: August 28, 2024

What is your soul really thirsty for? Where are you drawing your water to fill up your bucket? In John 4, water from the well symbolizes surface-level solutions, like overachievement, substance abuse, shallow relationships, or image management; these will always leave us thirsty. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what is up? Thanks for joining us on the Daily Drive. My name is Bro, and we are currently walking through some one-on-one encounters that people had with Jesus. And as we wrap up the summer and we all get back into the routine of school and work and all of our regular rhythms, I've been praying that as people encounter us, it would be a whole lot like meeting Jesus, that our kindness, our humility, our compassion, our inclusivity, our focused attention would be attractive and would introduce them to the one who can't. to give them life. We left off in John chapter 4 verse 13 yesterday and we learned that Jesus won't refuse anyone. He meets this woman at a well right where she is, baggage and all.

And as we continue to read, we will see that not only will Jesus never refuse anybody, but Jesus also knows our deepest thirst. I love how Jesus sitting at this well knows and goes right to the deepest places of her life. He goes right to the place of her shame. He goes right to the place of her shame, right to the place of her humiliation, right to the place of her isolation, right to the place of her pain, the place of her longing. He doesn't need a rope or a bucket to get deep. He's already there. He already knows. And only he can fill her deepest thirst. So Jesus introduces the idea of living water, and she is taken back by that concept. And I think kind of brushes it aside, even kind of makes fun

of him for saying it. And then she begins to brag about the history of this particular well. Well, Jesus smiles and comes back with, while anyone who drinks this water, as good as it is, will soon become thirsty again. 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. Of course, Jesus was talking about so much more than H-2-0 here. He knew what she was really thirsty for, and he knew how she was trying to quench that thirst. And haven't you all found that our surface attempts to fill our deepest needs only last a little while?

And we soon become thirsty again. I mean, it's why we try to fill our pain with substance abuse. It's why we try and fill our insecurities with weight and image management. It's why we run to pornography to fill a deeper need for intimacy. It's why we strive to overperform and overachieve at school or on the field or on the quarter at the office to fill that deeper need for that elusive atta boy or atta girl. It's why we build our wardrobes and spend money on more stuff to fill that deeper need of wanting to be seen as significant.

It's why we power up on people and lash out in fits of anger to fill that deeper need we have for control. It's why we chase relationship after relationship to fill our deeper need to be loved. And according to Jesus, those things never last. They're shallow and temporary and will only leave us thirsty again. God says this over in the Old Testament of the Bible in the book of Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 13. He says, my people have committed two sins. They have forsaken me the spring of living water And have dug their own cisterns

Broken cisterns that cannot hold water I can remember an old song I learned in third grade school I think it's music class You know there's some songs you learn as a kid That you can never ever forget And the song was There's a hole in my bucket There's a hole in my bucket

My bucket my bucket There's a hole in my bucket Dear Liza, oh, this goes on and on. Anybody else ever sing that song? Okay, maybe it's just a Kentucky thing where I grew up. But I'm so grateful for the day I discovered the reality. There's a hole in my bucket. I had dug broken cisterns that could not hold water.

Oh, they could hold enough to give me a sip or a quick fix, but never enough to wash over me and quench my deepest thirst. Jesus knows our deepest thirst, and not only does he know it, but he promises that if we come to him to meet our needs, we will never be thirsty again. He's the spring. He's the well. He's the source of living water. While this woman was wondering how Jesus could get to the deep places of Jacob's well without a rope and a bucket,

he was reaching deep into the well of her life, and I believe he could see her desperate thirst to be loved with the kind of love that does not run dry, the kind of love that only he can offer. So why not let him go deep with you today? Let him begin to fill you with soul-quenching living water because he is the well. Draw from him and you'll never be thirsty again. We'll pick this up tomorrow. Have a great day.

Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint. dot church slash daily drive. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out.