“…Whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

I recently returned from a national conference specifically for those in my ministry venue, the college campus, where a keynote presenter made an interesting point.  As a voracious mystery novel reader who reads several a week, she admitted to sometimes going to the end of the book first to find out “who-dun-it.”  That way, she said, she could go back and read the rest of the story by catching all the clues as they came about.  Some clues were on track, others not.  Her comment drew several guilty chuckles from the audience, suggesting that the laughers did the same.

When you do that with the Bible — admittedly not a novel, mystery or otherwise! — you also get the “who-dun-it” at the end.  The very last verse says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people” (Revelation 22:21).  Jesus is the one who got our salvation “done,” or finished, as he shouted in John 19:30.

Backing up a few verses before that last verse, we find, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’  And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’  Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (22:17).  Clearly this water is a free gift.  However, real water in a bottle will cost you.  I saw some supposedly exquisite, gourmet, bottled water offered in one of those airplane magazines in the back pocket of the seat in front of me.  Asking price?  Over $200 a bottle! For water!

Not so with God.  He gives his water, water of life or living water, freely.  Talk about deals!  That said, let’s go back to another of John’s writings, his gospel, and look at what Jesus said in the context of a water offering.

John 7:37 begins, “On the last and greatest day of the feast…”  This was the Feast of Tabernacles, which commemorated God’s protection as the Israelites wandered 40 years in the dessert on their way to the Promised Land.  God told them, once they arrived in the land, to construct booths in their yards and live in them for a week, even cooking their meals there too.  This was not unlike a little family camping trip, without the trip, of course.  Many celebrated in Jerusalem with their relatives living there so they could participate in Temple activities.

One of those activities was a processional march, where the High Priest carried a golden container of water drawn from the Pool of Siloam back to the Temple.  The water symbolized God’s provision of adequate rainfall for the year to grow their crops.  This priestly parade entered the Temple Mount through the Water Gate — so named for obvious reason — and the priest encircled the altar and poured it out as a drink offering.  Jesus was there with other onlookers, and at the conclusion of this ceremony where all the attention was on God accepting this offering, Jesus called out “in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.’ ”  I can’t help but think that his emphasis was on “me.”

How much does it cost to trust Christ?  Nothing but taking our eyes off ourselves, abandoning our self-reliance and shiftting our dependency onto him.  That’s what faith essentially is, transferring our trust.  With this comes daily obligations for disciples that are followed by various multiple blessings.

But Jesus continued: “ ‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’  By this he meant the Spirit, who those who believed in him were later to receive.”  In other words, that person would be saved, the Spirit in him/her being the unmistakable evidence for the Father’s acceptance.  Very simple. Totally free.

In John 8:37 the words are thirsty…come…drink.  In Revelation 22:17 they are thirsty…come… take.  Identical in meaning and intent.  In other words, “Gotta thirst for God?  He’s waiting for you!”

When you go to most restaurants, patrons are customarily served water.  It’s the beginning of what’s to come.  When you celebrate the Lord’s Supper, you get only a taste, a sampling of what’s to come.

Just as the water of life came freely, so the rest.  How often do you thirst for things above?