The Fountain That Never Runs Dry: Finding True Satisfaction
In the heart of Rome stands the famous Trevi Fountain, a magnificent baroque masterpiece that draws thousands of visitors each year. Tourists gather around its waters, turning their backs to the fountain and tossing coins over their shoulders, hoping their wishes will come true. Legend promises that one coin guarantees a return to Rome, two coins ensure you'll fall in love, and three coins—well, that's when things get complicated. Officials collect the equivalent of $10,000 every two days from this fountain of wishes.
But here's what's fascinating: every person who approaches that fountain is searching for something. Love. Joy. Happiness. Peace. Fulfillment. They're looking for something to satisfy the deepest longings of their souls. And whether they realize it or not, they're ultimately searching for God.
Nearly a century ago, G.K. Chesterton wrote something profound: "Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is really looking for God." If he were writing today, he might say that every person endlessly scrolling social media, checking for likes and validation, is really searching for God's approval. Every person drowning their pain in weekend parties is ultimately searching for God to fill the hole in their heart. The workaholic running on the treadmill of success is really running after the significance that only God can provide.
The God-Shaped Hole
We all have it—that God-shaped hole in our hearts that nothing else can fill. Yet we spend our lives trying to fill it with everything but God. We drink from fountains that promise satisfaction but leave us thirstier than before.
In John chapter 7, during the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles, something remarkable happened. This eight-day celebration commemorated Israel's wilderness wanderings, when God provided for His people before they entered the Promised Land. During the first seven days, a priest would draw water from the Pool of Siloam and pour it on the altar, reminding the people that God had quenched their thirst in the wilderness.
But on the eighth day, something different happened. They would take the water back to their homes instead of pouring it on the altar. This signified that God had brought them into the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey. Yet here's the tragedy: in their abundance, they had forgotten what it meant to thirst for God.
Sound familiar?
The Cry That Changed Everything
On that eighth day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out with a loud voice: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
This wasn't a whisper. This wasn't a private conversation. Jesus was shouting so everyone could hear. He wasn't hiding the truth or making people work hard to find it. He was making it abundantly clear: He is the answer to the deepest thirst of every human soul.
Notice the invitation: "If ANYONE thirsts." Not just the religious. Not just the moral. Not just those who have their lives together. Anyone. The Samaritan you hate. The sinner you judge. The broken person you pity. The successful person you envy. Anyone who is thirsty can come.
What Are You Thirsty For?
The bottled water industry in the United States alone is an $18.5 billion per year business. We've become so accustomed to having water within arm's reach that we've forgotten what it means to be truly thirsty. And our spiritual lives mirror this reality.
C.S. Lewis captured this perfectly when he wrote: "Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
We're playing in mud puddles when we're standing in front of the fountain of living water.
The Fountains We Drink From
We drink from the fountain of attention, desperately wanting to be noticed and valued rather than invisible. But Psalm 139:17 reminds us: "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"
We drink from the fountain of acceptance, covering up who we really are because we fear rejection. Yet Jesus promises in John 6:37: "Whoever comes to me I will never cast out."
We drink from the fountain of satisfaction, falling into traps of lust and pleasure-seeking. But Psalm 36:7-9 declares: "How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights."
We drink from the fountain of security, anxious about our future. Jesus assures us in John 10:28 that He gives eternal life, and no one can snatch us out of His hand—or the Father's hand.
We drink from the fountain of significance, longing to know we're enough. Yet Psalm 139:16 tells us that before we were even formed, God wrote all our days in His book.
The Problem of Broken Cisterns
The prophet Jeremiah addressed this issue thousands of years ago: "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13).
Nothing has changed. We're still building our own fountains that don't work, that don't hold water, that leave us empty and thirsty.
The Solution: Come and Drink
How do we break free from this cycle? Jesus gives us the answer: "Come to me and drink."
It starts with believing. Trusting with all your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the creator and sustainer of life, and that without Him there is no life. Period.
Believing means realizing you can't save yourself. You can never be moral enough or good enough because you're broken. And here's the truth: the only people who ever get saved are those who admit they need salvation. The only people who find forgiveness are those who admit they need forgiveness.
The old hymn says it beautifully: "There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."
When we come to Jesus and drink from the fountain of life, we find forgiveness, salvation, and the gift of eternal life. Our thirst is quenched completely and fully.
Daily Hydration
But here's the thing: we must come daily to the fountain of life. Not for salvation—that's settled the moment we believe. We come daily because our sin nature wants to pull us back to worldly fountains. We come daily because we need the refreshing that only He can provide.
Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matthew 5:6).
The question is: What are you thirsting for? Will you leave the broken fountains of this world and come to the fountain of life who will fill you like you've never been filled before and satisfy you with a quenching that will hydrate your soul?
Without Jesus Christ, you'll never be satisfied. You will always be thirsty. But with Him, rivers of living water flow from within, refreshing not only your own soul but spilling over to refresh everyone around you.
The fountain is open. The invitation stands. Come and drink.
But here's what's fascinating: every person who approaches that fountain is searching for something. Love. Joy. Happiness. Peace. Fulfillment. They're looking for something to satisfy the deepest longings of their souls. And whether they realize it or not, they're ultimately searching for God.
Nearly a century ago, G.K. Chesterton wrote something profound: "Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is really looking for God." If he were writing today, he might say that every person endlessly scrolling social media, checking for likes and validation, is really searching for God's approval. Every person drowning their pain in weekend parties is ultimately searching for God to fill the hole in their heart. The workaholic running on the treadmill of success is really running after the significance that only God can provide.
The God-Shaped Hole
We all have it—that God-shaped hole in our hearts that nothing else can fill. Yet we spend our lives trying to fill it with everything but God. We drink from fountains that promise satisfaction but leave us thirstier than before.
In John chapter 7, during the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles, something remarkable happened. This eight-day celebration commemorated Israel's wilderness wanderings, when God provided for His people before they entered the Promised Land. During the first seven days, a priest would draw water from the Pool of Siloam and pour it on the altar, reminding the people that God had quenched their thirst in the wilderness.
But on the eighth day, something different happened. They would take the water back to their homes instead of pouring it on the altar. This signified that God had brought them into the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey. Yet here's the tragedy: in their abundance, they had forgotten what it meant to thirst for God.
Sound familiar?
The Cry That Changed Everything
On that eighth day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out with a loud voice: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
This wasn't a whisper. This wasn't a private conversation. Jesus was shouting so everyone could hear. He wasn't hiding the truth or making people work hard to find it. He was making it abundantly clear: He is the answer to the deepest thirst of every human soul.
Notice the invitation: "If ANYONE thirsts." Not just the religious. Not just the moral. Not just those who have their lives together. Anyone. The Samaritan you hate. The sinner you judge. The broken person you pity. The successful person you envy. Anyone who is thirsty can come.
What Are You Thirsty For?
The bottled water industry in the United States alone is an $18.5 billion per year business. We've become so accustomed to having water within arm's reach that we've forgotten what it means to be truly thirsty. And our spiritual lives mirror this reality.
C.S. Lewis captured this perfectly when he wrote: "Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
We're playing in mud puddles when we're standing in front of the fountain of living water.
The Fountains We Drink From
We drink from the fountain of attention, desperately wanting to be noticed and valued rather than invisible. But Psalm 139:17 reminds us: "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"
We drink from the fountain of acceptance, covering up who we really are because we fear rejection. Yet Jesus promises in John 6:37: "Whoever comes to me I will never cast out."
We drink from the fountain of satisfaction, falling into traps of lust and pleasure-seeking. But Psalm 36:7-9 declares: "How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights."
We drink from the fountain of security, anxious about our future. Jesus assures us in John 10:28 that He gives eternal life, and no one can snatch us out of His hand—or the Father's hand.
We drink from the fountain of significance, longing to know we're enough. Yet Psalm 139:16 tells us that before we were even formed, God wrote all our days in His book.
The Problem of Broken Cisterns
The prophet Jeremiah addressed this issue thousands of years ago: "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13).
Nothing has changed. We're still building our own fountains that don't work, that don't hold water, that leave us empty and thirsty.
The Solution: Come and Drink
How do we break free from this cycle? Jesus gives us the answer: "Come to me and drink."
It starts with believing. Trusting with all your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the creator and sustainer of life, and that without Him there is no life. Period.
Believing means realizing you can't save yourself. You can never be moral enough or good enough because you're broken. And here's the truth: the only people who ever get saved are those who admit they need salvation. The only people who find forgiveness are those who admit they need forgiveness.
The old hymn says it beautifully: "There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."
When we come to Jesus and drink from the fountain of life, we find forgiveness, salvation, and the gift of eternal life. Our thirst is quenched completely and fully.
Daily Hydration
But here's the thing: we must come daily to the fountain of life. Not for salvation—that's settled the moment we believe. We come daily because our sin nature wants to pull us back to worldly fountains. We come daily because we need the refreshing that only He can provide.
Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matthew 5:6).
The question is: What are you thirsting for? Will you leave the broken fountains of this world and come to the fountain of life who will fill you like you've never been filled before and satisfy you with a quenching that will hydrate your soul?
Without Jesus Christ, you'll never be satisfied. You will always be thirsty. But with Him, rivers of living water flow from within, refreshing not only your own soul but spilling over to refresh everyone around you.
The fountain is open. The invitation stands. Come and drink.
Recent
Archive
Categories
no categories
No Comments