Anglican Morning Devotion for 8 August 2021 Anno Domini
A ministry of the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:11-14)
The most profound of all attributes of God is His all-encompassing Love for His elect people. Jesus said, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:12-14) This is love in its pure and undiluted form. If the love of Christ is as infinite as it is abundant, the love of the Father is no less in comparison – to give one’s only Begotten Son in redemption of those who are sinners.
In days gone by, our family used to visit a great and gushing natural spring in Florida called, Crystal Springs. The water abundantly gushed from an endless underground spring, overflowed the surrounding banks and formed a river that provided refreshing water to both man and beast downstream. The water possessed healing effects for skin disorders and was filled with minerals that was efficacious to health. Such is the fountain of Living Waters which is the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everywhere He goes, He brings life and healing.
When we consider the Woman of Jacob’s Well, we see that her heart was set upon that worldly water that lay a hundred feet below the ground in a hole. But she met the One who could provide her the Water of Life – not from a hole in the ground, but from the abundant resources of Heaven. She had brought her jug to bear the earthly water back to her home, but left the jug to proclaim that life-giving Water from on High. That Water was not to be borne in a jug, but in the heart of the believer. She shared the news with all in her village of Sychar and, though she was one of ill-repute, the villagers believed her! Why? Because she spoke from the newfound authority of FAITH! We all may speak with that same certain authority.
An unusual characteristic of love is the fact that it is self-generating – the more we love, the greater abundance of love we have in reserve. It is a river overflowing its banks for nothing can contain, or prevent, its flowing. When we write our life’s story with the ink of HATE, it is as though we wrote upon water for it has no staying power. But the ink of love is greater than all the water in the seas. “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.” (Jeremiah 17:13) When our Lord Jesus Christ wrote twice upon the ground before the Jewish leaders who sought stoning for a woman taken in adultery, I feel certain that once he wrote the sins of the accusers – the second time, He wrote their names upon the earth. They knew exactly what He meant and immediately dispersed.
How loving was our Lord to all sinners He met: the Woman with an Issue of Blood; the leper whom not one else would touch but Jesus; and the little daughter of Jairus whose lifeless hand He gently took and uttered the words, “Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.” (Mark 5:41)
The Waters of the Fountain of Life are the very substance of Love. Love begets life, and true Love that is Divine, life eternal. Love is the one thing we possess granted by God that survives death: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39; all scripture quoted is from the King James Version)
