How’s Your Water?

by Andrew Cromwell


Jesus said in John chapter 7, “whoever believes in me shall have rivers of living water flowing from within.” 

This begs the question: What kind of water do you have flowing from you? I believe that every interaction we have with others can be compared to a water exchange. You know how it is, there are some people in your life that when you talk with them, you leave feeling refreshed. It is as if you have received a cold, clean drink of water. These are the kind of people that you want to spend time with because they add value to you life, they encourage you when you are down and they inspire you to keep going.

On the other hand, there are some interactions with people where instead of offering you a nice, cool drink, they instead spew filth all over you. These conversations leave you feeling like you need to go and take a shower. People like this, you tend to avoid because instead of adding value to you, they actually hurt you. 

What kind of water are you offering to people? Are you refreshing or are you poisonous?

Water is life-giving by its very nature. Where water flows you will find trees, grass, crops and animals of all kinds. Wherever you have a river that provides a consistent source of water you will find all kinds of life next to the river.

That is, unless the water is polluted. 

James says “can bitter and fresh flow from the same fountain?” The answer, regrettably, is, “yes, it can and yes it does.” But it doesn’t have to be that way.


If you find that the water you are offering to others is polluted and unfit to drink, then maybe it is time to get back to the source of the living water. The good news is that if we are connected to Jesus Christ then He will pour into us a river of fresh, clean water and it will wash out all the nasty muck and make us suitable for life-giving interactions with others once again.

Maybe you have never taken a drink from that fountain of living water. Or maybe it has just been a long time since you have been connected to the source and you are dry. Wherever you have been and however you are, Jesus today offers His living water. It will fill you and transform you from the inside out, if you allow it to.

Sometimes a simple prayer is the most effective. I encourage you to simply ask Jesus to fill you with His living water and to wash away the muck of the past.