Return to the Well!

Returning to the well is about getting into a place where we can be restored, refilled, and replenished by God. Have you ever tried carrying water in a bucket with a hole in it? If I filled the bucket up all the way, water would start to leak out of the hole in the side, and I would have to move very quickly to get as much water as possible. If I only filled the bucket halfway, water would not leak out, and I could go more slowly, but I would have to make more trips. Regardless of the method used, I would have to keep returning for more water.

Our lives are like a leaking bucket. As we serve others, live life, and face personal difficulties, we use some of the living water that is welled up in our souls. This water must be replaced. The only way we can replenish that water is by returning to the well of living water. That well of living water is Jesus Christ.

John 4:7-14 says, ‘(7) When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”  (8)  (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)  (9) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)  (10) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”  (11) “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?  (12) Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” (13) Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,  (14) but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”’

We see in this passage that Jesus is the well with a never-ending supply of living water that leads to an abundant life. We do lose this living water as we go through life, when sharing or serving others, and must replenish it by returning to the well. As you pour out, you also must be watered and poured back into.

Returning To The Well as We Love Others

Jesus tells us the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. He is telling us that after loving God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, we are supposed to love others. This takes energy. It has to be intentional. As we love others, especially those that are not easy to love, we use up some of the living water we receive from Jesus.

Think of it this way. You are on a trip through a hot desert. You have planned out your trip and know you need to bring plenty of extra water to drink as you travel. Five hours into your trip you come across someone who did not plan as well as you. They are sitting on the side of the path and are thirsty. They are going to die if they do not get some water and receive some help. You give them some of your water and start to help them along, sharing your water and other provisions to help them. Like this, when we serve others, we expend some of what we have received from Jesus to serve others. This is directly tied to Jesus’ instructions to his 12 disciples just before sending them out for a season of ministry: Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 10:8)

These instructions are for us, as much as for the twelve disciples 2000 years ago. But, as we have freely receive and we freely give, we can’t continue to give unless we return to the well and refill our own soul with that living water to be able to fulfill the mission we have been called to.

Being Sidetracked From Returning to the Well

Another way we lose water from our bucket, so to speak, is by getting sidetracked by the busyness of this world. When we get sidetracked, we lose focus on the task at hand and start to focus on something else. The task at hand suffers. Often the thing we get sidetracked from most is returning to the well. We know we need to return to Jesus and refill our souls regularly.

There are so many things in life that can distract us. Issues going on with family, sickness, work, unhealthy habits, and more. All of these things are small holes in our bucket, and the living water of Jesus is leaking out. Losing focus on Jesus is one of the devil’s biggest and most used tools to draw us away from God. The devil knows this, too. If our bucket goes completely dry and we don’t refill it soon enough, we are in trouble.

Jesus alludes to this in Luke 9:62, which says: Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

We must keep our focus on Jesus and the call God has placed on our hearts and minimize the amount of living water lost and wasted to the distractions in life that simply do not matter.

Returning to the Well as We Face Personal Difficulties

We can also lose water from our bucket of life when facing personal difficulties. We all face personal difficulties from time to time, and we must have a full bucket to make it through that time. In John 12:1-5, Judas was more concerned about the money that could be raised by selling the perfume than the act of love and worship Mary showed when anointing Jesus’ feet. Judas was distracted from the true mission.

We are often distracted by the logic of what we see and think we need to do instead of what God is calling us to do. We also allow personal difficulties, or in this case, personal sin, to distract us and allow our souls to run dry. If we continue to read John 12:6, we read why Judas was so focused on how expensive the perfume was and the money that could be raised by selling it. He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as the keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. (John 12:6)

We must not get distracted from the call of Jesus on our life, even when we believe we are doing good things. Water is leaking out of our bucket of life, and we must replenish it by being with Jesus and focusing on Him.

Biblical Uses of Wells

Wells are mentioned throughout scripture and have multiple meanings in the biblical narrative. In Exodus 15, the children of Israel arrive at Elim where they find 12 wells. The wells in this passage of scripture are referred to as a place of rest and relaxation because they were traveling through a dry land, and when they arrived at this oasis, they had trees for shade and water for their thirst.

When a well was placed outside the city, it served as a meeting place for the women who collected the water and for strangers. For example, Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. She wasn’t welcome to visit the well with the women in the town, so she went at a different time. One day, she met Jesus at the well, and her life was forever changed! Her natural meeting place became her spiritual meeting place with the Messiah, a divine connection!

Wells are also used to depict the provision of God. When Moses spoke to the children of Israel before his departure and their entrance to the promised land, he spoke of wells. He told them that God had provided for them wells which they did not have to dig. And when Samson was thirsty after killing the Philistines, he cried out to God who split a hollow place in the land (creating a well of water) that Samson might obtain water to refresh and revive himself.

Wells were deemed as a vital and economic asset. The Bible makes references to the disputes over the ownership of wells. Abraham rebuked Abimelech because his servants had seized Abraham’s well of water. Enemies could stop up the wells, as the Philistines later did to Abraham’s wells.

As we can see, wells were important to the people of God for the natural supply of water. God’s word uses the imagery of wells for a spiritual supply of living water. In John 4, Jesus told the woman at the well that she should have asked Him for a drink and He would have given her living water that she would never thirst again.

Kings were responsible for digging wells, as we can see in 2 Chronicles where we find King Uzziah dug many wells, and the enemy (the Philistines) was responsible for stopping them up. There is a spiritual correlation: salvation through the Blood of Jesus creates within each of us a well. Then Jesus fills that well with Living Water, so that out of our belly can flow that living water. When we are allowing the water, or in this case, His Holy Spirit to flow through us, our well is a place of refreshing, for ourselves and others, and it is a beautiful thing. When we are in disobedience, our wells are dry. Not because the source of our living water has gone dry, but because we have allowed the enemy of our souls to fill the wells up with sin, keeping the water from flowing! On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “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.” (John 7:37-38, NKJV)

Drawing from the well is simple. When life hits us with challenges, instead of just reacting, cause we all do, we have to draw from the well. If we will allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us and help us in times of crisis, great joy will be ours. We will also be able to draw peace through tough times, and love when we don’t feel like sharing it. We will draw strength to continue on the journey, and hope for a brighter tomorrow. There is so much available in the well of salvation that is provided through that Living Water. It’s ours for the drawing. And it’s our responsibility to do so! So go ahead, and draw from your well of salvation! Wonderful Jesus!

We must never cease praying and asking the Lord to continually fill us with His living water from Jesus’ well. Worship is also a key component to returning to the well. Not just the worship when we all gather together once or twice a week, but singing the song that Jesus puts in your heart. Return to the well, friends. Return to the living well of Jesus Christ often and refill your bucket, because these lives we have here in this world have a lot of holes and Jesus’ living water is leaking out of us.

Other Types Of (Ungodly) Wells

There were other wells which Jesus wanted to talk to the woman at the well about, — wells that she was going to for emotional resources, for temporary supplies that did not satisfy.

Two are brought out in this passage. One was her relationship with men. In John 4: 15 - 19 Jesus uncovered this very carefully. She says, “Sir, give me this water You are talking about, and I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw.” Now, I wonder if she didn’t pass other wells because her reputation made it tough for her to go to those nearer. Maybe the women all talked about her when she came. And He said to her, “Go call your husband, and come here.” The woman said to Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are so right; you have had five husbands, and the man you are now living with is not your husband.” She had tried to be satisfied in her deep need by marriage. She had really worked at marriage! She’d tried one type of man, and then another type, and she’d think, “Maybe I could be satisfied if I just had this husband, or that one–!” And she ran through five. Then she said, “Why even get married? Maybe I could get enough of what my heart longs for just by living with a man.”

False Sources of Satisfaction

People will compromise anything if only they can get that deep longing in their hearts satisfied. Don’t try to get from any person – in marriage or outside of marriage – what only God can give you! These hungers, these longings, are God’s voice to you that says, “Turn to Me!” Marriage can be a well you keep going back to and back to, and you’re always dissatisfied. This woman had tried marriages and arrangements, and all were found to be temporary wells.

Substitute Religions

Another well that she kept going to was her religion. But Jesus says, “The hour is here when God, Who is a Spirit, calls you to worship Him in spirit and in truth.” This Samaritan woman had gone to that mountain time and time again to get some “blessing”. In fact, Mount Gerizim today is called the “Mount of Blessing.” When the Samaritans were cut off from Jerusalem, it was chosen by them as the alternate place to worship. And Jesus is saying to her, it isn’t the holy place that’s going to satisfy you; it’s a holy God! You can go back and back and back again, and you won’t be satisfied.

There were these two emotional wells: her marriage relationship and her religion, and she kept returning to them. Don’t allow your emotions to dictate you - Jesus should be your source of joy and peace - not even your spouse. True faith, real Christianity, Christ is saying here, isn’t a place you go to, or a person, a church, a Bible study - none of these things can be to you the source of supply - only God Himself can.

Well Of Living Water

John’s Gospel shows specific miracles that prove Christ’s deity. This is one of them here. We don’t ordinarily think of this as one of the miracles of the Gospel of John, but it certainly is. There can come to everyone who believes in Christ a well within, which is a bubbling, up-springing source of all you need! Jesus says to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is Who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (v.10)

“Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (v.14).

You may have felt a desperate need. Jesus wants to give you a great miracle: an abundance of resources within, with which to cope with life. Jesus says, “If you will believe, I will put in you that well, so you can continually draw upon it and enjoy it and drink deeply from it.”

The requirement is that you need to believe in Jesus, to rely on and lean on and trust Him and receive Him into your life. “He who believes in Me,” He says, “as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’” Jesus died to save you, that’s true, but that’s only the start. He wants to express His fullness through you: “rivers of living water;” “fullness of grace and truth.” Jesus calls it “a well springing up to everlasting life.”

From The Stance Of Fullness

People of God, always begin your thinking, planning, and deciding from the point of Jesus’ fullness in your life. Always start with the plenty of God! Face life with all you have in Christ. Never face life with all the problems, troubles, and needs.

Every Christian has Christ inside: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Rivers in you – that’s glory! A well springing up – that’s glory! Fullness of grace and truth – that’s glory! That’s what Jesus gives you! The non-Christian must say, “I need Christ.” But the Christian should say, “I have Christ; I have Christ!” – and start from there.

Don’t go into ministry, service, or commitment in the name of needs or difficulties. Go instead in the name of Christ and His fullness. In the fourth chapter of Ephesians, Paul says, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” God wants you to be full, my friend! You’ve got a well inside!

Some of you have been going to those substitute wells, and you say, “Is this all there is?” No, it isn’t. There’s another well, and it’s Jesus Himself, springing up to everlasting life. If you have that well within you, draw deeply. And go with that fullness within, wherever you go.

The Lord Is Calling Us To Re-dig Ancient Wells

God appeared to Isaac and told him to sojourn to a specific land, and while there God said that Isaac would be blessed and prosper because of his father’s (Abraham) obedience to His laws and statutes (Gen. 26:3-5). Sure enough, Isaac sowed in the land and reaped a mighty harvest that made him and his family very wealthy. There was a problem, however, that confronted Isaac. The Bible says, “Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped up by filling them with earth” (Gen. 26:15). Water was crucial to life and especially to a large family with large flocks and herds. At one time, those ancient wells dug by Abraham flowed abundantly with clean, fresh water. They represented life; God’s abundant provision for Abraham and his family. But those wells had been stopped up with dirt, so in order to dwell in the land that God placed Isaac in, he had the task of re-digging those ancient wells (Gen. 26:18).

I can’t read Isaac’s story without thinking about our assignment as Spirit-filled believers, specifically within the Holiness movement. Our forefathers pioneered a movement built on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Meetings where the manifest presence of God’s glory resting upon people was once thought to be normal. This ancient well of entire sanctification has been stopped up by man’s opinions and scholastic rhetoric that believes people really can’t be cleansed, transformed, and delivered. But those in Christ, Paul said, become “a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

Second, these early well-diggers functioned with extraordinary power, and that power was recognized by believers and non-believers alike. Like the early church, “fear came upon every soul” (Acts 2:43) of those who were around these Christians because people realized that they were possessed with a presence that echoed the book of Acts. Sometimes that power was tangibly manifested through extraordinary healings or deliverances. God’s power would overtake a village or city, too, causing people to live with a sacred reverence. Miracles, healing, and supernatural graces were common and expected of these early believers in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I believe this ancient well desperately needs to be unplugged, too. The dirt of human programming and worked-up strategies have left us barren and burned out. Too many churches reflect Paul’s decree of being a mere form of godliness without power (2 Tim. 3:5).

Third, they were desperate for God, and that desperation never waned. Their hunger for God made them willing to sacrifice time, money, and resources for greater encounters with Him. They lived with the mindset that God’s glory had to be stewarded for increase, and whatever they experienced in a meeting or service could be greater in the next one. Blessed are those, Jesus said, who “hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6). Let’s learn to live with a hunger and thirst for God’s presence and His righteousness.

Our responsibility and call to re-dig the wells didn’t start with our forefathers but began with Christ’s commission to everyone who is called His follower, including you and me. Jesus commissioned us to do what He did and even greater (John 14:12). Let’s examine our wells and see if they flow with the same presence and power of God like we see in the book of Acts. And when those wells are cleared out again, let’s continue to flow like rivers of living water sourcing people wherever we might go (John 7:38); and let’s live with a determination to never let these wells become stopped up again.

We need to keep our eyes open for wells along the way and also BE a well. We should always be considering how we might “be a drink of fresh water” to someone else with a word of encouragement, a pat on the back, or a phone call. We still need to encourage one another, just as the writer of Hebrews exhorts us: But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today.” (Hebrews 3:13)

Prayer

Father God, thank you that I can move forward in life with the reassurance of your presence, power, and favor upon my life. Thank you for the rivers of living water that flow from my belly. Thank you for the joy, peace, and strength that you bring. Thank you for my breakthrough as I seek after your heart and worship you in spirit and in truth. I love you, Lord. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.