One of the hobbies I enjoy is completing a puzzle. Unfortunately, I am not very good at completing a puzzle. It's embarrassing, but I often find myself trying to put puzzle pieces in places in the puzzle where they do not fit. Try as I might, the wrong puzzle piece will never fit in the spot where it was never intended to go. On a much broader scale, we human beings are looking for fulfillment and satisfaction, and when we look for satisfaction in anything but Christ, we are like amateur puzzlers trying to put puzzles in a spot that will never, ever fit. The only one who can truly fulfill and satisfy us is Christ.
Jesus revealed that He is the only one who will satisfy our deepest needs in John 4. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus was in Samaria, a place many Jewish people avoided because Jews and Samaritans did not get along. While He was in Samaria, He came to a well for water, and He asked a Samaritan woman at the well to give Him some water. The woman was surprised that Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, was asking her, a Samaritan woman, for water, but Jesus assured her, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water" (verse 10). The woman did not understand what Jesus was saying, so He continued, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life" (verse 14). Jesus revealed to this woman that only He can satisfy the thirst within all of us. When we follow Him and trust Him, we are so satisfied that we never thirst again. He fulfills our deepest desires. In Him, we find everything that we need.
Every day, many things fight for our attention and affection. There are many things that we can turn to for satisfaction. We can turn to other people, a desired position, or a valued possession. The truth is, none of these things can satisfy us. They will ultimately lead us to be thirsty and unfulfilled. Only God can satisfy us. When we turn to Him, we will never, ever thirst again.
Where have you been looking for satisfaction? Have you been looking for satisfaction in career, financial, or relational success? Maybe you have been looking for satisfaction in something else. Whatever you have been looking to for satisfaction other than Christ, it is time to let go of that today. Confess to God the areas where you have looked for satisfaction that were never meant to satisfy you. Ask Him to help you as you commit to looking to Him alone for your satisfaction and fulfillment.
1Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). 3 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
4 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
11 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”
21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”
