October 17, 2014
John 4:7-14
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
Here is one more blog on Drinking The Cup Of Salvation. In Psalm 116:12 through 15 the Psalmist wrote:
What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me? I will take
up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my
vows to the LORD now in the presence of all His people. Precious in the
sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
The first thing done to thank “…the LORD for all His benefits…” is this: “I will take up the cup of salvation….” Receiving and regularly living out His gift of salvation is the greatest thanks we can give God!
Let’s look at an incident related to Drinking The Cup Of Salvation. It is recorded in John 4:7 through 14. For the sake of space, I am abridging this scripture and leaving out verses 8 and 12:
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a
drink.”…Then [she]…said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a
drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with
Samaritans. Jesus answered…her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who
it is that says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and
He would have given you living water.” The woman said…, “Sir, You
have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get
that living water?”…Jesus answered…”Whoever drinks of this water will
thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will
never thirst again. But the water that I shall give him will become in him
a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.
This Samaritan woman had been making lousy choices and consequently had lived a rough life. She’s been married five times (verse 18), and was now living with another man. That day when she came to Jacob’s well, she was thirsty for much more than the physical water of the well! Like a lot of people today, she just hadn’t identified that thirst. But when she encountered the Messiah, He identified her thirst – her desperate need for God!
Everyone of us needs God! But we are so blinded by the enemy (see II Corinthians 4:4) that we can’t see our real need, and so we try to quench the thirst within by all sorts of other ‘beverages’ the world offers! And the thirst persists, and even grows more intense with the failure of what godless society shoves before us, saying, “Here, drink this! This will do the trick, and make you feel real good!” I know. In my first 19 years I tried a lot of stuff to fill the void within me – alcohol, nicotine, food, sex, pornography and more. And it was not just in those first 19 years before I became a Christian either! I struggled to gain victory in several areas for many more years until I learned to rest in my Savior. And I still have my struggles – but He is helping me find victory day by day.
Jesus was offering Himself to this woman of Samaria. He offers Himself to each and all of us! As He said in John 6:54 and 55 (our last blog), “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.” Oh, yes! We still need the physical water of the well to survive our life on earth. But He fills our deeper needs – to be forgiven and cleansed of our sins, to be accepted by the Father, to be filled with His Holy Spirit, and directed in our choices by the mind of Jesus Himself! (See II Peter 1:3 and 4). It is all offered through the cross – through the giving of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only sacrifice to reconcile us back to God where we belong!
Jesus, in John 7:37 and 38, said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 55:1, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The gift of Jesus Christ and Drinking The Cup Of Salvation is free to all! It cannot be purchased with money or earned through labor! It is simply accepted by faith believing! He is received simply by faith – believing that what Jesus accomplished on the cross was for you – and me!
The Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well received that living water. Her first testimony was to the people of the town when she ran and told them, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” We are not told how her life changed, but we can bet it did – and for the better! And your life will change also, when you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and allow Him to lead you as your Lord.
John closes the book of Revelation with this invitation: “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17).
So come and thankfully drink The Cup Of Salvation.