阅读经文 

在阿巴拉契亚山道的沙砾泉，我坐在一根倒地的树干上休息。在那里，我可以喝到从半山腰流下来的清冽泉水。经过一下午漫长而炎热的徒步旅行后，水喝起来很可口。

耶稣在撒玛利亚的一个城里停下来歇息，想喝口水。有一个撒玛利亚的妇人来打水，耶稣向她要水喝。她很惊讶耶稣会主动和她说话。在那个时代，犹太人通常瞧不起撒玛利亚人。更令她惊讶的是，耶稣说祂能赐给她活水，还说这水会成为“涌到永生”（参约 4:14）的泉源，使她永远不渴。

水是生存所必需的。没有水，任何生物都无法长久存活。但耶稣在这里说水并不是物质上的水。祂指的是祂自己。耶稣是活水，藉着圣灵的工作，永生将在所有爱祂和追随祂的人心中像泉水一样涌出。（参约 7:38-39）

没有水，我们无法生存。没有耶稣的活水，我们灵里就是枯死的。但是耶稣应许赐给我们活水，从我们里面涌出，使我们以及他人在每日与祂同行时都能得到滋润。

Sat on a fallen log to rest at Gravel Springs on the Appala­chian Trail. There I was able to drink from the crystal clear, icy cold spring water flowing from the mountainside. After a long, hot afternoon of hiking, the water tasted delicious.

Jesus stopped for a rest and a drink of water at a town in Samaria. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink. She was surprised that he would talk with her. In those days, Jewish people usually treated Samaritans with contempt. She was even more surprised when Jesus talked about the living water that he could give, saying it would become a spring “welling up to eternal life” to quench her thirst forever.

Water is essential for life. Nothing living can survive long without it.

But Jesus was not talking about physical water here. He was referring to himself. Jesus is the living water, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, eternal life will well up like springs of water in the hearts of all who love and follow him (John 7:38-39).

Without water, we can’t survive. Without the living water of Jesus, we are spiritually dead. But Jesus promises to give us living water that wells up and flows from within us, refreshing us and others in our daily walk with him.