Lent Day 24

John 4:7-15

Where I live, lack of water is not one of the problems we deal with. Yet in a desert there is little rainfall and water is precious. The most important question for everyone's life is whether there is water available. Where will the next drink be found? When? What do I need to do in order to get that drink? Plants and animals are designed to store water as long as possible. When it does rain they absorb or drink as much as possible, not knowing how many months or years will pass before they get another drink. I've read that humans cannot safely last more than 3 days at most without water, so the lives of those who live in desert regions revolves in a very real sense around the water supply and how to preserve it.
Jesus offers the Samaritan woman "living" water so she will never again be thirsty. This is an offer to change her life entirely. We can think of what it would mean if we never had to drink anything or how our lives would change if we eliminated all food and everything related to food, but I suspect that it doesn't mean as much to me as to someone who has regularly experienced deep thirst or starvation hunger without any guarantee that their need would be satisfied.