I' d like to share something with you about John 4:1~8:
1: "When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John."
2: "(Although Jesus Himself did not baptize, but rather His disciples)"
3: "He left Judea and went away again into Galilee."
4: "And He had to pass through Samaria."
5: "So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land that Jacob gave to Joseph his son;"
6: "And Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from the journey, sat thus by the well; it was about the sixth hour."
7: "There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give Me something to drink."
8: "For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food."

If we take a look of the map of the Israel, the region of Judea is in the South, the region of Galilee is in the North, and the region of Samaria is right between them. The Bible said that Jesus had to pass through Samaria in order to go to Galilee from Judea. (4:4) According to the map, it seems to be reasonable; but according to the verses, there seemed to be another reason for Jesus to go in this way. What is the reason? Verse 7 says that Jesus went there to meet a Samaritan woman who went out to draw water. (4:7)

Why did the Samaritan woman go out to draw water? It is because she was thirsty. However, when Jesus met her by the well, He asked her for some water to drink, because He was wearied from the journey. (4:6,7) A thirsty woman went to the well for water, and a thirsty Jesus went to a thirsty woman for water. What is this? This is a wonderful moment for the mutual satisfaction of both Jesus and the Samaritan woman.

Verse 7 says, "...Jesus said to her, Give Me something to drink." The Samaritan woman went to the well to drink some water, but Jesus was asking her for some water. We might think that the woman needed to drink some water in order to be satisfied, but what the Bible says in this verse is just the opposite. Jesus said to her, "Give Me something to drink." She thought that her thirst would be quenched if she drank water, but Jesus seemingly told her that her real thirst could only be quenched if she gave some water to Him. In other words, if she gave some water to Jesus, her thirst would be satisfied; the way for her thirst to be quenched was to satisfy the thirst of Jesus.

It seems to be unreasonable. Our logic says that we need to drink water when we are thirsty, but the logic in the Bible says that we should pour out some water when we are thirsty. Once the woman gave something for Jesus to drink, the thirst of Jesus would be satisfied, and her thirst would also be quenched and satisfied. Our Christian experiences are also like this. The more we pour out the water to satisfy the Lord Jesus, the more we are satisfied. The secret of Christian's satisfaction is to pour out water, and not to drink in water.

For example, we go to the church meetings every week. Why do we go to the meetings? It is because we are thirsty. There is always a spiritual thirst in our spirit, and our thirst could only be quenched by the church meetings, the gathering of the saints, and the fellowship with one another in the Holy Spirit. However, our experiences also tell us that even if we go the meetings regularly, we might not be really satisfied. Why? It is because we forgot the secret of the real satisfaction. The story of the Samaritan woman tells us that the way be satisfied is not to drink, but to pour out. I have to ask myself, "When I go to the meetings, do I go to drink, or do I go to pour out? Do I wait for others to say something to satisfy me, or do I say something to satisfy others? Do I wait for somebody to provide some spiritual water for me, or do I prepare some spiritual water for others?" The real route for our spirit to be satisfied is to pour out spiritual water. When we pour out the water for others, the Lord Jesus will be satisfied, and we will gain the real satisfaction in our spirit.

May the Lord be mercifully to us, so that we could not only become "water drinkers" but also "water suppliers". May we have the desire to give Jesus something to drink. May we give some spiritual water to the saints, to our family members, and to the gospel friends. May the church in Montreal be filled with the flow of the living water, so that our Lord Jesus might be fully satisfied with us. Aman.