Guest Blog written by: Jessica Brown

i’ll never forget that day. as long as i live.
it was a sticky, hot, miserably humid july afternoon.
i bounded out of the house in an emotional mess.
i headed straight for the rail trail. i needed some space.
some hot asphalt under my feet to clear my head and make sense of my
heart.
i’d had a disagreement with a loved one.
the kind that leaves you spinning and searching and grasping for something
to steady you.
four miles later, upon my return to the car, i noticed the dad and his
kids.
they were pulling a cooler. laughing, chatting. carefree.

i thirsted for that.

oh, how parched i was for that.
as our paths crossed, the dad asked a simple question.

‘would you like a cold drink of water?’

it seemed a loaded question.

i pondered what kind of strings were attached.
his little girl opened the cooler and offered me an icy, cold bottle of
water.

and just like that, they were gone.
bounding down the rail trail.
no doubt to spread the joy that oozed out of them.

everyday people try to hand you something to quench your thirst.
fame. fortune. fads.
false security.
fake happiness.

like a mirage in the desert, we drink the sand.
and continue searching for something to satisfy the dry, barren space in
our soul.
often wondering why in the world we can’t seem to end the insatiable
drought in our hearts.

we are promised total bliss if we just score the goal, bring home the win,
buy the stuff, join the crowd,
grab the guy or gal, journey down the wide road paved straight to
destruction.

empty promises.
that leave us parched and hankering for more.

but God promises so much more.
Jesus replied, “if you only knew the gift God has for you
and who you are speaking to, you would ask me,
and I would give you living water.”
john 4:10

i could hardly wait to get to my car and guzzle the cold water.
it wasn’t until i was safe in my car that i saw the string attached.
i cried all the way home. for i was no longer thirsty.

the bottle still sits on a shelf in my bathroom.
where it serves as a reminder each day to quench my thirst on the One who
promises me a fountain of everlasting life.

Jesus replied, “anyone who drinks this water 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.”
john 4:13-14

we are invited to satisfy our unquenchable thirst at the fountain of
grace.
jesus offered the same to the samaritan woman at the well.
she was an outcast. a woman with many men. rejected and hated.
yet, parched.
like us, she was seeking something to flood the desert of her soul.
instead, she found someOne.

“please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water!
then i will never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get
water.”
john 4:15