This is a Guest Post from Leslie Nelson. Leslie is a writer, mother of five and a wife–it’s a busy life.
She is working on a book about rebuilding our relationship with the Savior when pain, shame, and anger get in the way. She blogs at Leslie G Nelson.com
If you would like to write a guest post for this blog, check out the guidelines here.
Most of us have had many names throughout our lives. The name we were given at birth, nicknames, pet names from loved ones, and for women, married names, but none of us have as many names as Christ does. Each one of His names is symbolic and has significant meaning to us when we study them.
My favorite name for Jesus is Living Water.
Living Water: What does it mean?
If you are like me, the first thought that comes to my mind is the image of a man dying in the desert. Slowly crawling and hoarsely whispering, “water, water…” This is really not overly dramatic when you consider what our life would be like without the Savior.
After having a very close relationship with the Savior, I went through a time when I felt separated from Him. The separation was caused by the pain, shame and anger of healing from childhood abuse. That time without Christ as my center makes the image of the man in the desert look like a Sunday School picnic.
Water helps our bodies in many ways. Signs of dehydration include irritability headaches and with severe dehydration the skin shrivels and shrinks. In worst case scenarios there can be blindness and death. Interestingly, spiritual dehydration (life without the Savior) can also lead to irritability, pain, our spirits shriveling and shrinking, spiritual blindness and death.
Why Living Water?
But why “Living” Water? Why not simply “The Water” like “The Rock” or Creator, Redeemer, or Cornerstone? There are also other related questions: If water can be living, can it also be dead? Does the Dead Sea count as dead water? The Dead Sea gets its name from being made of salt water of an unusually high salt content. Humans can’t drink large amounts of salt water because ironically in order to keep the delicate balance of salt and water in our bodies, the body will try to excrete the excess salt–through urine, and the result is dehydration.
So then does “living water” simply mean fresh water? Probably not. Some fresh water is not safe to drink either, due to things like amoebas and parasites. (Don’t ask me how I know this…suffice it to say my knowledge involves living in Venezuela, vomiting, and diarrhea…enough said.)
Finally it came to me…water quenches our thirst. But sometimes we thirst for different things. We can thirst for righteousness, or we can thirst for companionship when we feel lonely. Sometimes our thirst is good — like a thirst for knowledge. This helps us understand how Jesus is the Living Water. He is the Living Water because He can quench any thirst. He can fill us.
During my time of spiritual dehydration, it occurred to me that perhaps because of my own blind spots, I was having difficulty accepting the love that Christ offered to me, freely, and without charge.
How about you? Are you ready to be filled with the Living Water? Are you ready for your thirst to be quenched?
Leave a Comment or Question