He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.”
REVELATION 21:6
How delightful it is to drink from a mountain spring. The water is often pure, clear, and cool. No wonder a good spring can be a primary selling point in a real estate transaction! From the book of Genesis, where the river flowed out from the Garden of Eden (2:10) to the book of Revelation (21:6), God uses springs as a way to show that He gives and sustains life.
It is not surprising that the children of Israel grumbled when they were traveling through the wilderness and thirst overcame them. How relieved they must have been when the Lord told Moses to strike the rock and water came out! (See Exodus 17:1–7.) God was showing them His power over creation and His care for them.
In Psalm 1 and in Jeremiah 17, the person who trusts in the Lord or delights in His law is compared to a tree by a stream. “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:8).
When we seek the Lord, especially by opening and reading His Word, He provides us with living water. Jesus Himself offered it to the woman at the well, and she didn’t understand at first (John 4). We may smile at her confusion, but we’ve all had times when we found ourselves far from the Lord and needed to return to the water of life. Thankfully, the Lord welcomes us back again and again.