25 Days of AdventSample

Advent -- Day 11

Psalm 23:1-3

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

Isaiah 55:1-2

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.

John 4:7, 9-11, 13-14

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 7:37-39a

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." By this, he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.

Revelation 7:17

For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Meditation

When Adam and Eve were in the garden, every thirst within them was fully satisfied. But when sin entered the world, they found that things went horribly awry. Their relationship with one another soured. Their labor yielded frustration. Their health began to wane. They became thirsty, and this thirst has plagued humans ever since.

Then Jesus came into our world, offering living water. But at what cost? This is where the offer becomes staggering. Christ has chosen to sell his water to the lowest bidder. Total forgiveness and reconciliation with God, a redemption from our old futile way of life, a new pathway to purity and holiness, is within our grasp. All we must do is empty our hands and receive the free gift of God, for even God cannot place his gift of salvation in a closed hand. The only offer Christ will receive is nothing. The price for which he will release this water is zero.

Only our pride stands in our way. We must lay aside any idea that there is something that we can offer to God. We must ask him to give us what we do not have and cannot afford. That is the only basis on which the gift can be received. Jesus can meet the deepest thirsts of the soul. In fact, that is precisely what he came to do.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I admit that I am thirsty for the water only you can provide. And I praise your name that through your Son, Jesus Christ, I now have access to a spring of living water that promises to satisfy and lead me into abundant life. Allow that spring of water to flow out of my inner being and bear lasting fruit in the lives of others. I delight in the liberating truth that I do not need to earn this from you. Indeed, I acknowledge the folly of even attempting such a thing! Give me the courage and strength to empty my hands so that I may receive from you whatever it is you want to give me, for I know it will be more than I could ever ask or imagine. By your grace, may I learn to live out of the resources you have given so that I will move forward in freedom. In your liberating name I pray. Amen.