Jesus the Living Water

Jesus is the living waterExodus 12:17-18;Numbers 20:10-11;John 4:13-15
This is a lesson that highlights reality. It contrasts the differences in the way different people view their world. This viewpoint is called things like identity or point of view.It is said of some that they see the world through rose colored glasses. Others have a kind of Polaroid lends that fillers out some kinds of light (the glare) while permitting the ambient light to pass through with out effect. Often the wearer gets used to this kind of glass filter and forgets that much of the cross light is not there. The Spanish word for these is called antiojos. Literally it means "before the eyes" In this way most people filter out people and experiences that do not seem relevant to their current object of thought. My daughter has entered into a residency in psychiatry. She studies people who have a view of reality that is distorted or skewed by family sickness, sin, abuse, drug usage, or demonic influences. In all of these instances she endeavors to win the trust of the patient so that she may help them clarify the distortion of their view of reality. This process over time causes some healing to take place through the process of treatment.Sadly some do not ever permit their reality to be adjusted by experience. In religious circles this phenomenon might be called "Hard Shell."
Jesus said in John 4 that I will be to you a well of living water. This metaphor attempts to describe a concept that presents difficulty in understanding. In the old testament counterpart Moses is challenged with the thirst of his million who trusted him by leave Egypt (the armies behind notwithstanding.)
In the desert there exists any number of places to obtain water, a little water, The desert by definition is a place of little water. In Texas we can see all of the types of terrain that is found through out the world. There exist much land that is very arid, and in places looks very much like the desert area of the middle east. A person who knows the land can find water, maybe for himself or for he and his horse. But after that is consumed it may take hours or days to refill the pocket of water from seepage. This also pictures the water available in the desert of southern Israel or the Sinai Desert. The problem was not that there wasn't any water, but that there wasn't enough to fill the "million man march" through the desert. The people repeated a scenario where some of the men would go to the leader Moses and intercede for the women the various complaints of these Jewish women. Women every where have expectations about the life that they consider "normal!" They developed over time a "workday view" that encompass sacrifices that they are willing and able to make and those that they are not able to make. These are developed "in light" of the life that they experienced as children and saw their mothers endure.In Texas history Apache women lived a particular life as normal in the desert of Southwest Texas. This was not unlike the daughters of Jethro the priest of Midian in Ex 3:1. The Jewish Women of Ex 12 expected water supply like the river Nile in Egypt. At times the river flooded over the banks and the span of the river was farther thin the eye could see, over a mile wide. This was far different than the desert where every speck of water must be used appropriately in order to avoid starvation. This causes hygiene standards to be quite different. The stress of these families fell upon the men who cried out to Moses "Would have been better that we would have died in Egypt" It is said, "If Mom is happy every body is happy." In this example the whole lot would have preferred death to the war that these people were enduring within their homes. It truly was a crisis of identity for all involved. I get this inference from the fact that the scripture in Ex 12 does not say the people actually were thirsty. It only says they were afraid of dying of thirst. I have lived in the desert area of Southwest Texas. I have also lived in the city where each person may normally use 500 gallons of water a month. the viewpoint of the two situations is vastly different. This difference affects every part of life. Moses had lived with Jethro several years and as such had both a desert view of water and the city view of water.Each view pictured a different life style as to the normal use of water. He was not concern with the supply of water aside from the complaints of the people. He calmly went to God and asked for help. The Lord (Adonai) Instructed him to take the same shepherd's stall that he had used with Jethro less than a year earlier and strike a rock. The river necessary to satisfy a group of people this large, would have had to be twenty five feet across and be running faster than you could stand up in it. This would require a miracle. Just such a rock exists in Val Verde county near Comstock, Texas. The rock is about the size of a two story house, and the water that shoots from under this rock is truly amazing. It pops up in the middle of the desert at the head of a canyon called Seminole Canyon. The Texas state park by that name resides there since 1980. An earth quake necessary to move this rock off of the artesian spring in the middle of the Sinai desert would have shut up even the most confirmed skeptic.The amount of power necessary to move a rock this size would have reduced the staff to splinters! Moses therefore would not have applied much power to the rock in question. the other problem was: which rock covered the spring? .Because Moses was following the cloud or the pillar of fire, The guidance system must have followed the creak, because the people discussed not the water problem for many years. They had other problems than not the water. Before the forty years had elapsed, the Nation ran out of water again, This time the people had complained about Moses's wife, and various other concerns.It seems mixed race marriages did not set well with the children of Israel of that day. Moses already had two children and displayed little patience with their criticism. This time when water supply became scarce, he sought the Lord again about the need. After a noble start he did not like the directions given to obtain the needed water. Instead of following the directions "speak to the rock" he struck it a gain a second time (like he had done before!) He had the right rock, because the children of Israel complained no longer. God must have wanted to declare some principle about speech and faith, because when the need for obtaining water was satisfied , God became angry with Moses for the only time in his one hundred twenty year life.I find it ironic that Moses("drawn from water") should stumble over a water supply problem. Psalm 106:32 also makes reference as this contrast has challenged readers view point of the character of all involved including God himself through the intervening years. Other passages in the New Testament lend more information about "Faith" and it's relationship with speech. God thought that this leader's response to the command was as serious as the disobedience of the Children of Israel in the Desert receiving the same penalty, death before reaching the goal.
In John 4:13 Jesus is talking to a half breed lady of all things, at a well in Samaria. In these areas, a well became the anchor of a city and sometimes outlasted many generations. The water would seep underground from the snow melt of the mountains many miles away. The wells could not produce water anywhere, but only where the strata underground directed the flow and underground pools retained the source of life! Jesus used this well as an illustration of himself. Living water from a well. "Living water" disciples something like the rapids of Colorado State park "Arkansas Headwaters Recreational Area." This is Living water! To have this violent and thunderous water coming from a well was a shocking contrast indeed. In a nearby passage in John 7:38 Jesus indicates this water will well out of the belly of a believer. A Person with this passion often becomes the founder of a church or even a denomination. Jesus is clearly contrasting those who simply "come to me" and those who truly believe. A Person has to work to lift water at ten pounds per gallon from a well twenty to a hundred feet deep. A person needs little or no work to receive nourishment from a river. such is the two stages of belief. A river or a well. Again this is a contrast of viewpoint. Where is the frame of reference, the view point of the world? In many endeavors there is this two stage level of success. In the lake a boat traveling fast enough will "plane" in the water. At this speed the boat is stable and the resistance of the water around is lessened. But as speed increases the boat will "lift." In this phase the boat is completely out of the water except the prop driving the boat. In this phase there is very little resistance or drag. The boat fairly flies above the water. This is the comparison Jesus is making in these two illustrations. In auto racing there is this same two stage of travel. A first of "plane" then a second of lift. In this phase there is very little drag. The lesson pictures a person who believes so much and so completely that the viewpoint permits no consciousness other than that of Jesus. By inference, this is an easier way to live.
This step progression of consciousness is also noted in recognition of knowledge. The first time a thought or word is encountered there is recognition. The second step is recognition having seen the same concept a subsequent time. The third step is short term memory. "I remember hearing of that before." This is the first stage where internal consciousness is facilitated. The fourth stage is long term memory. In it consciousness is utilized to the point that great familiarity stimulates interactive thought. the fifth level of consciousness is reflex. This phase does not require memory registers, but is "automatic." It is at this area that Jesus describes "rivers of Living waters." Consciousness is not even aware that there exists a reality not congruent with this knowledge. Truly this is the "viewpoint" that I am trying to illustrate.
So the question that presents it self is "How do I get to this level of Belief?" The first step is found in Romans 10:9-10. The second is found in Romans 1:16. Become not ashamed of the Word of righteousness. This is more of a process over time than the first step. But is the Power of God that transports a person over this step. Often the fellowship ("Konionia") of the saints will assist in developing a new viewpoint ,point of view, or identity. The process begins again with the words spoken from the heart. "I like this or that!"; "I Love this or that!".These seemingly casual words actually recreate a new reality each time that they are spoken. In this manner over time these thoughts become reflex. Unfortunately competing words contrary to these will create a type of confusion internally and sometimes unknown tot he speaker that James 1:8 describes as double-minded! He commands that these be remedied by cleanse hands then by purify heart. Hands relate to what is actually done. Hearts describe the point of view or the viewpoint. What is it that a person sees when he looks out at the world? What kinds of "glare" do the Polaroid "lens" over his eyes filter? It also helps to "create an atmosphere" by changing the "wallpaper" of the circumstances. Wallpaper would be people, music, or other media. What stimulation doe es come before the consciousness on a regular basis? These are easier to con troll for the belief of Jesus than some of these inner things like viewpoint. The third step to changing consciousness is to start talking to those in the environment about Jesus. Witnessing at first. Every person has an experience or memory to give witness. Then next find someone who is more attached tot eh world than himself and begin to teach principles already mastered.Gal 6:1 suggests that when one can see another taken in a fault, he should restore the one in need. The fourth step is to begin to memorize scripture. Commit the spiritual tools to a reflex level of memory. In this way the one meg of board memory in the mind is not taken up with remembering the reality of the scripture. With time and practice the quantity of memory will grow, but every one has some memory to start with. Every one can remember the verse 1 John 1:4 & 1:16. God Is Love. This is a good starting point, Another verse is John 11:35, Jesus wept. Sometimes it comforts a broken heart to know that Jesus cares enough to cry. Also II Samuel 14:14 reminds that God does not "respect" the person above another. I.E. What God did for another he might also do for you given fulfill of qualifications.