People spend their entire lives searching for happiness, peace, approval and love. Yet what seems to be the simplest of goals are elusive even for Christians.
In Jesus’ day, it was no different. Last week, we saw Nicodemus approach Jesus, looking for affirmation. This week we read about a woman who has been looking for happiness in all the wrong places. Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again, and he tells the woman at the well to ask him for living water.
Each is looking for something that will make sense out of life and affirm them as individuals. So why doesn’t Jesus answer more clearly?
According to Paul, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
You see, Jesus’ job is to offer truth to all mankind. It isn’t his job to make us understand. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. As a result, the truth often is right in front of us and unless the Spirit allows us to see it, we’re blind to it. By answering cryptically, Jesus gives everyone the truth. The Father, through the Holy Spirit, determines who will understand.
Like Nicodemus and the woman at the well, we all seek fulfillment. We may be respected among our Christian brothers and sisters, as Nicodemus. Or we may doubt whether God could accept us because of our past, as the woman at the well. Fulfillment is available to all of us—but only through intimate relationship with Jesus.
And like Nicodemus and the woman at the well, we can only understand as much as the Holy Spirit reveals.
Fulfillment through Jesus
Jesus calls himself the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself” (John 5:16). When we search for fulfillment, we want to find something that makes sense out of life. In reality, we’re looking for life itself.
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Now remember what Jesus told Nicodemus: we must be born again. Real life is spiritual, and it begins with a spiritual birth.
Once we’re born again, just as a physical baby, we must learn to walk in the Spirit. The process begins with recognizing our spiritual hunger and thirst. These are cravings for fulfillment that can only be met through the presence of God. Prior to salvation, we believed these cravings could be met through money, prestige and having our selfish desires met.
Now, through the Spirit, we can understand Jesus is everything we need. He is the Truth. His word will fill our hunger. He’s also the source of living water, which gives us eternal life and refreshes our spirits for eternity.
“He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty, I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life’” (Revelation 21:6).
Growing up in the Spirit
As Christians, we often overlook the importance of growing up in the spirit. We see salvation as the end of our spiritual journey rather than the beginning.
Once saved, we must begin taking in the word of God to strengthen our faith. “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).
We also must pray for living water to keep our spirits fresh. In doing this, we’ll begin to mature.
How do we know we’re growing spiritually? Here’s what the writer of Hebrews says: “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness” (Hebrews 5:12-13).
The writer is challenging us to grow in the Spirit. We must learn the truths God has given us through his word. We also must encourage one another to live by those truths. Righteousness must become natural to us while everything else becomes unnatural. “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature” (Galatians 5:16-17).
What does it take to find fulfillment?
When we commit to obey Jesus and grow up spiritually, the things we seek—love, peace and happiness—suddenly become much more accessible. Fulfillment, after all, is in the presence of God. Jesus is the way to everything we seek.
Food for thought
What are your seeking in life, and where do you turn for fulfillment? Do you believe your needs could be met in Jesus? The Bible says all we have to do is ask, so ask Jesus to refresh you with springs of living water.
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