With depressing regularity I watch TV adverts from companies promising superfast Broadband, only to discover that the service is not yet available in our area. It’s one of the few downsides of living in a village that we’re low on the list when it comes to installing the necessary infrastructure to deliver new technology. For now at least we must live in hope that one day the promise will be fulfilled.
In Jesus’ day it wasn’t superfast Broadband that people were desperate for but something rather more important – fresh water. The lack of clean water is not just an inconvenience, but in the end a matter of life and death, and anyone with a promise to provide limitless supplies will be welcomed; the only question being – can they deliver on the promise.
So Jesus is very deliberate when he explains to a woman standing by a well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.” He’s speaking about a ‘water’ that will satisfy the longing of our souls for meaning and purpose and the answer to the question ‘Why am I here?’ It’s a bold promise and unlike our broadband companies He has the means to deliver it.
