What is Living Water?

“Living water,” is a phrase that can be found in different books throughout the Bible. There are four main instances that hold significance, two in the Old Testament and two in the New Testament.

One of the early examples of living water in the Bible comes from Jeremiah 2:13 where God says, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Later in Jeremiah 17:13, Jeremiah says of God, “Lord, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.”

In these two passages, God is referred to as “the spring of living water,” who His people have abandoned to try and do things their own way by digging their own cisterns and turning away from Him. The passages show that God gives His people everything they need, like water, and that when they turn away from Him, they are lost and hopeless.

In the New Testament, Jesus speaks to a Samaritan woman in John 4:10, saying, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

Later in John 7: 37-39 Jesus once again speaks of living water, saying, “‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

In the two passages from John, Jesus speaks of living water not just as water, but also as a symbol for the Holy Spirit and what is to come after Jesus’ death and resurrection for his followers who believe in Him.

So, what is living water? Living water can be understood in various ways, but the clearest way is that living water is a symbol for salvation and a true knowledge of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. God provides us with everything we need and is the “living water” that continues to always give to us.

At Quenched we want to change the world, and know that you do too. You can give the people of Nepal and India hope by partnering with us to offer them living water through clean water and the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Your contribution will fund the building of a well in a place in desperate need of clean water and hopefully help to build a faith community as well.

Click here to find out more about the work we do in India and Nepal. For an example of the impact our wells have had upon the communities we serve, please fill out the form below to receive a free project report. It tells the story of one community in Nepal whose lives were changed by a single village well.