LIVING WATER

When Christ encountered the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well He told her that He can give her water far superior to the one she was constantly drawing to assuage the thirst of her household. (John 4:5-15).  The water he said he could give her was living water 'springing up into everlasting life' (John 4:14) as opposed to water that satisfies the body which is destined to die, thus making the well water 'dead water' with a used by date.

In performing its main object of springing up into everlasting life, the living water also heals here and now.  It heals the broken hearted, spiritual wounds caused by sin, emotional and physical suffering and defects of the mind.  Just before the Saviour returns, the scriptures inform us, "a new spring will appear at the temple in Jerusalem and its waters will flow eastward to the Dead Sea which will be healed of its dead and stagnant condition. The Dead Sea, or any other body of water which is stagnant, is so because of two reasons.  First, it has little or no inflow; and second, it has little or no outflow.  In its stagnant condition it becomes lifeless water.  Since it is not renewed with fresh water, it cannot in turn pass living water onto other streams and bodies of water, nor can it support life within itself". (Larry Keeler, Living Water or Dead Sea) The spring which will appear at the temple in Jerusalem is symbolic of Christ's power to heal anything that is dead, either spiritually or physically.

When I reflect on the incident at Jacob's well, I feel it is important to understand why the person Christ chose to tell of the living water was this particular woman. His solemn invitation to her, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink", was a plain and open claim of Messiahship. In making this claim he identified himself as the very Jehovah who had promised drink to the thirsty through an outpouring of the Spirit (McConkie, DNTC, 1:445-46). This is a pretty serious declaration to make since it either meant that he was a blasphemer worthy of death or he was in fact the God of Israel. What is more astonishing is the fact that He made this declaration to a Samaritan woman rather than a person of authority. Surely the latter would have carried much more weight and bring His claim to more prominence. However, as the Saviour proved with subsequent declarations, those in authority were not meek of heart who were willing to accept His claim. In my mind Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman was not by chance. When all of Jewry chose to travel an indirect and longer route from Judea to Galilee rather than go through Samaria, Jesus chose to travel the direct route and sat himself down at Jacob's well at noon having sent his disciples to procure provisions. There are two facts worthy of notice here:

1. Samaritans were an impure race, remnants of the 10 tribes who had intermarried with Assyrians and other foreigners and even though they boasted that Jacob was their father, the Jews denied this vehemently and considered them 'more unclean than a Gentile of any other nationality' (Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p. 172). Because of this disdain Samaritans rejected the prophetic writings now known as the Old Testament. The ill-feeling between Jews and Samaritans had been growing for centuries, and at the time of the Saviour's ministry, the feeling between the two parties had grown to intense hatred. It goes without saying that a Jew would not be caught dead speaking to a Samaritan.
2. The Saviour knew well the woman who came to draw water from the well. He knew that she had had five husbands and was now living with a man who was not her husband. This was a fallen woman who chose to come to the well in the heat of the day rather than the cool of the morning when it was the custom for women to gather and enjoy social interaction. The timing of her visit to the well emphasized her despised and outcast position. In general Jewish men didn't speak to Jewish women much in public, especially not to ones of ill repute. For a Jewish man to speak to a Samaritan woman in public would have been unheard of. And here is Christ, the Messiah, speaking to a fallen, Samaritan, woman.  It is obvious that he was not politically correct on three counts.

Through Jesus's encounter with her, the Samaritan woman became the symbol of the downtrodden and the lowliest of us who can qualify for eternal life. The Saviour came to heal the sick and bind the broken hearted. He did not minister to those who were well and rejected Him in the pride of their hearts. This is why He mixed with the publicans and the sinners. How else could he have demonstrated that His living water could heal us and give us eternal life? When I think of the Samaritan woman and consider His important message, I also see through my 21st century view the Saviour sending a message to the women of our day, a message of healing and hope. A great number of women today feel fragmented and damaged  having been divorced, widowed, abandoned or simply ignored by the opposite sex. Among the damaged are women who have been embroiled in sin, abused and enslaved in oppression. Perhaps they are all depicted in this Samaritan woman. No doubt having had five husbands came at a price. We who live in this modern world where so much suffering abounds feel the oppression of sin, affliction, hardship and temptation. Some of us are barely keeping our heads above the water and some of us are scraping up sludge of dry wells.

In all our suffering and stumbling in the dark we tend to turn to the ways of the world to fill us. Sometimes we get so blinded by the glare of this world that we dive headlong into Jacob's well eager to assuage our thirst with that which does not satisfy, benefit or fulfill us. We seek for the corruptible things of this earth that have no lasting power to fill our cracks, heal our sorrows and make up for our lack. We think that this dismal telestial world has treasures to offer us that will somehow make us whole. The truth is that the lustre of this world can only be seen during the day. When the night falls, the emptiness is still there, the pain exposed, the suffering unbearable.

Drawing water from a well used to be a thankless and miserable daily burden designated to women. Water is heavy, hard to pull out of a well and carry home, much like the cares of this world. The water the Samaritan woman drew out of the well was dead heavy water of this earth representing the burdens of this world. If you would but drink from the fountain of living water you would not thirst anymore for you would be filled with that which matters most, that which is lasting, that which will speak peace to the deepest recesses of your soul. Then the suffering will be bearable and even conquerable. Then the lack will not matter and the cracks will diminish and fade. Then you can look forward to the living water within you springing up into everlasting life. Then you can be filled with hope and happiness believing Him who has said, "....eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). He can give all this to you. Be filled and thirst no more.

"Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonder of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever!" (D&C 128:23)

WOMEN OF VALOUR

"About fifty years ago, Mr. F.M. Bareham wrote the following:

'A century ago men were following with bated breath the march of Napoleon and waiting with feverish impatience for news of the wars. And all the while in their homes babies were being born. But who could think about babies? Everybody was thinking about battles.
In one year between Trafalgar and Waterloo there stole into the world a host of heroes: Gladstone was born in Liverpool; Tennyson at the Somersby Rectory; and Oliver Wendell Holmes in Massachusetts. Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, and music was enriched by the advent of Felix Mendelssohn in Hamburg.
But nobody thought of babies, everybody was thinking of battles. Yet which of the battles of 1809 mattered more than the babies of 1809? We fancy God can manage His world only with great battalions, when all the time he is doing it with beautiful babies.
When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants discovering, God sends a baby into the world to do it'. (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle: pp 84, 85)"

God prepares great mothers for great children. One such woman was one of the greatest examples of virtuous womanhood in the Old Testament. Her name was Ruth. Born of a heathen nation, Ruth made a life changing choice when a young woman. She married an Israelite.  By virtue of that marriage she got converted to the God of Israel and gained a mother-in-law who she loved and respected so much that she regarded her welfare above her own. Because of her selflessness this convert who accepted the truth was blessed to become a progenitor of Christ.

Ruth's story begins in Moab, her home land, where she married Mahlon, one of the sons of an Israelite couple called Elimelech and Naomi, who had fled from their hometown of Bethlehem because of famine and came to Moab, a gentile country east of the Dead Sea. Another Moabite woman by the name of Orpah married Chilon, the other son of that family. Neither of the women produced any children before the father and both sons died leaving the three women destitute. Ruth's story is a prime example of how you can go from nothing to everything if you are faithful. When the famine abated Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem and entreated her daughters-in-law to remain in Moab and return to their families. Both of the women wept at the suggestion wanting to follow her but Orpah consented after further encouragement from Naomi while Ruth refused to abandon her aging mother-in-law who faced a life of uncertainty without offspring and opportunity (Ruth 1:15-17). And here begins a life dedicated to caring. Ruth accompanies her mother-in-law to Bethlehem and there gains a reputation of a virtuous woman in Israel. The entire city of Bethlehem knew how good she was and told Naomi that Ruth was better to her than seven sons (Ruth 3:11, 4:15).

 
As the poor in Israel were accustomed to do, Ruth offers to go gleaning the barley fields being harvested. Gleaning was in effect gathering any stalks of barley that fell from the harvesters' hands and that were left on the field for the poor to gather to save them from starvation. Being new in the area, Ruth, unbeknown to her, chose a field that belonged to Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi's husband, but not just any relative. Naomi identifies him as the 'next kinsmen', the proper Hebrew name being "go'el", being a term from the realm of Israelite family law. It describes the near relatives to whom both law and custom gave certain duties towards the clan, one of them making it 'possible for a widow who had lost home and property to return to her former status and security and to have seed to perpetuate her family' (Old Testament Student Manual, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, p. 263). This is where it becomes really interesting. Naomi, a young woman does not seek a man closer to her own age and of her own liking to marry and get on with her life, she instead heeds the counsel of her mother-in-law and approaches Boaz to lay claim to a 'levirate marriage'. As the 'next kinsmen' it would be his duty to marry the widowed Ruth and provide her with offspring. This duty would have fallen to her husband's brother had he remained alive. What is even more interesting is that Naomi could have laid this claim herself but Naomi was too stricken in years to bear more children. By Ruth marrying and bearing a son, she provided a way for both women to be cared for in their old age. Lucky for Ruth, Boaz was a good man and was impressed that she was following the Israelite family law in seeking a rightful husband rather than going after her own selfish desires. He regarded her proposal as 'a proof of feminine virtue and modesty, that she had not gone after young men, but offered herself as a wife to an old man like him' (Old Testament Student Manual).  In his immortalized words:

"And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end that at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.
"And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman". (Ruth 3:10,11)

Imagine if Ruth's reputation had been any less than what it was. Would she have been able to save herself and Naomi from destitution? Would Boaz want to marry her? But Ruth was a virtuous woman, committed to the God of Israel and because of her commitment she came to Bethlehem empty but was filled in every way. She went from nothing to everything. Boaz married Ruth and they had a son, Obed who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of David who was a progenitor of Mary who was the mother of Christ (Ruth 4:17-22). By giving birth to Obed, Ruth brought honour again to her mother-in-law who was left childless: "And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom and became nurse unto it. And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed...." (Ruth 4:16,17). Thus by her life's choices Ruth became a symbol of selfless love to be emulated by all daughters of God.

Another remarkable woman of great spirit from the Old Testament is Hannah, mother of Samuel. Here is another lady who like Ruth could have believed that the Lord left her empty but who through her actions and faith, like Ruth,  received of His abundance. So many women who bore significant sons in early history were barren. It would seem that we learn greatest lessons from their experience. Not being able to bear children is a difficult cross to bear for any woman in any age but it was especially so for Hannah. She was barren in a time when 'it was a great reproach to a woman among the Jews to be barren; because, say some, every one hoped that the Messiah should spring from her line" (Clarke, Bible Commentary, 2:207, Old Testament Student Manual, p 267). Besides this hope, a woman brought great honour to her husband by giving him children, especially sons. At an age when women had little else to distinguish themselves by, child bearing was of utmost importance. Hannah's suffering from her condition was made even more difficult by the second wife of her husband, Peninnah, who tormented her and made her miserable by 'ostentatious exhibition of her children' (Old Testament Manual p 267). Hannah was greatly loved by her husband who favoured her which might explain Peninnah's merciless action.

As the family went up to Shiloh to the annual festivals to offer sacrifices at the tabernacle that was located there after the tribes settled in Canaan, Hannah took matters into her own hands. She knew there was only one place to go and only one god who could possibly know the state of her heart and who could alleviate her suffering. In her unwavering faith she made a covenant with the Lord that if He would give her a son she would bring him up as a Nazarite (1 Sam 1:11), dedicated to God all the days of his life through the Nazarite vow (Numbers 6). By this Hannah clearly showed that she was not interested in just fulfilling her heart's desire but that she wished to honour God as well so she made a deal that would not only benefit her but God too. This is an amazing act of selflessness. How many of us ask God constantly for what we want not giving any thought to what we can give in return? How many of us promise God in our prayers that we will do something for HIM? Usually we just keep asking and asking for more.

Hannah was a noble woman of the covenant, one who not only wanted to serve God but who wanted to secure real happiness for her son, the only true happiness that comes from knowing and serving God. When she explained to priest Eli the nature of her petition to God and Eli discharged her from the tabernacle saying 'Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him' (1 Sam 1:17), Hannah believed for 'her countenance was no more sad' (1 Sam 1:18). And herein lies another lesson, when you petition the Lord, walk away believing. Hannah did bear a son and she called his name Samuel, meaning in Hebrew 'heard of God' (Keil and Delitzch, Commentary, 2:2:25). This name served as a reminder to both Hannah and Samuel of the special circumstances and commitments relating to his birth (Old Testament Student Manual, p. 268).

When Samuel was weaned, Hannah honoured her promise to God and brought him to priest Eli to live and serve in the sanctuary for the remainder of his life. According to the custom of the day, Samuel was not weaned until he was three years old (Old Testament Student Manual, p 268). I have a three year old granddaughter, Addy. I cannot imagine how I would feel if she was suddenly no longer around. I know her mother would feel like her heart was ripped out of her chest. One cannot imagine how Hannah, who longed for a child, had the fortitude to hand him over to live with an old man and replace the carefree days of his childhood with service in the tabernacle, seeing him only once a year (1 Sam 2:20). But the God of Israel knew how Hannah would feel and He did not leave her heart empty. He filled it to the brim and rewarded her for keeping her word. Hannah went on to bear three more sons and two daughters.

".....and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it (Malachi 3:10)

If you have been left empty, you must believe, for the story is not over yet. The God of Israel desires to give you all that He has and to make of you all that He is. He has the power to restore what the locust have eaten (Joel 2:25). He has the power to make of you a fruitful field and to grant you eternal life. He is the bread of life and the living water. He is the God of Israel, the God of our fathers, the God of us all. He is the light, the truth and the way.

"For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes".  (Rev 7:17)

THIRST NO MORE

When Christ encountered the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well He told her that He can give her water far superior to the one she was constantly drawing to assuage the thirst of her household. (John 4:5-15).  The water he said was living water 'springing up into everlasting life' (John 4:14) as opposed to water that satisfies the body only which is destined to die thus making the well water 'dead water' with a used by date.

When I reflect on this incident of Christ's mortal ministry I feel it is significant that the person Christ told about the living water was a woman.  In performing its main object of springing up into everlasting life, the living water also heals.  It heals the broken hearted, spiritual wounds caused by sin, emotional suffering and defects of the mind.  Just before the Saviour returns, the scriptures inform us, "a new spring will appear at the temple in Jerusalem and its waters will flow eastward to the Dead Sea which will be healed of its dead and stagnant condition. The Dead Sea, or any other body of water which is stagnant, is so because of two reasons.  First, it has little or no inflow; and second, it has little or no outflow.  In its stagnant condition it becomes lifeless water.  Since it is not renewed with fresh water, it cannot in turn pass living water onto other streams and bodies of water, nor can it support life within itself". (Larry Keeler, Living Water or Dead Sea) The spring which will appear at the temple in Jerusalem is of course symbolic of Christ's power to heal anything that is dead, either spiritually or physically.

When I think of the Samaritan woman, I see through my 21st century view the Saviour sending a message to the women of my day and age, a message of healing and hope. A great number of women today feel fragmented and damaged  having been divorced, widowed, abandoned or simply ignored by the opposite sex.  Many women in the Church find it difficult to handle these feelings and leave the Church disillusioned and in search of a man that would make them feel whole somehow.  In the process of that search they become lost and end up believing the Church cannot meet their needs.  I also believed for many years that only those who have the Mormon ideal can truly be happy in the Church.  The rest of us just had to endure. I want to tell you that this is not so.

After my divorce I was left with several cracks that needed to be healed and a burning desire to be validated by a man.  When your marriage breaks down it affects your self-esteem to a huge extent.  It made me feel much less of a woman than I thought I was when I married.  I desperately wanted to belong to someone, have a man love me, make me feel worth while.  There was one thing standing in my way though, the deeply seated fear of being hurt again.  So I piled on a lot of weight to make myself sexually irrelevant and I hid behind my children making them the focal point of my life.  I rejected any notion of a social life for many years at the same time pining and suffering from lack of love.  But I did something incredibly positive for myself which I didn't realise would do so much for me.  I invested myself heavily into scriptures and studying the Gospel. Studying the word of God and feasting on the words of Christ not only gave me knowledge and brought the spirit into my life but it made the Saviour real to me.

The scriptures speak of Him, testify of Him and reveal Him so that we can know Him.  What does knowing him do for us?  It satisfies our thirst for spiritual sustenance, it heals all our spiritual and emotional wounds and it endows us with a desire to be like Him.  Becoming like Him being the most crucial part because it is this that grants us eternal life with God.

The more I studied over the years, the better I felt until one day I was discussing this need women have to be validated by men with someone close to me and I realised I was free of it.  As I reflected on it, the Saviour kept coming into my mind.  At that moment I knew why I was free of this validation need.  The Saviour had become very real to me over the years to the point where I have been feeling his presence and which spontaneously healed my need I had to have a man in my life.

It has been said that a marriage should be a union of two wholes and not two halves.  I believe that to be true.  It is a very tall order to expect another person to fill your cracks. We are all human and as such are liable to fall short of others' expectations.  Our sense of self worth should have its roots in our spiritual nature and our self-esteem should be based on our self-respect as we make right and positive choices in our lives. When you marry it should not be out of need but out of love which propels you to share yourself with another human being. A husband should be an icing on the cake, a bonus, rather than  fruit of one's desperation.  It is this desperation that drives many women to pursue an illusive dream, that of finding a perfect mate.  In the process of that pursuit they fall prey to many heartaches that leave them unhappy, lonely and empty.  This includes young women who have had to suffer the absence of fathers in their lives.  They believe there is a man out there that can provide a connection to the masculine presence they had missed out on in their childhood and youth and that this man can fix what years of abandonment and lack have wrought.

"...Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
"Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark."
(2 Nephi 32:3,4)

There is only one source of healing, which no mortal man can give to any woman.  If you are not receiving it, then you are not asking and you are not knocking and you are suffering in darkness.  It does not have to be so.  You do not need to go hungry or thirsty.  You can be filled with what matters most, that which is lasting, that which will speak peace to the deepest recesses of your soul.  You can have happiness and love and a belief that you are worth while.  He can give all this to you if you make Him real in your life.  Be filled and thirst no more.

THE POWER OF YOU

 

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies"

Proverbs 31:10

 

"The colour of rubies varies from vermilion to red. The most desired colour is pure red with a hint of blue.  If the colour is too pink, the stone is a pink sapphire.  The same is true if it is too violet - it is a violet sapphire.  The best rubies and star rubies are bright red....The Mogok Valley in Upper Burma  was for centuries the world's main source for rubies.  That region has produced some of the finest rubies ever mined, but in the recent years very few good rubies have been found there....."(Wikipedia)

 

A virtuous woman, as valued as a bright red ruby, is fast becoming a rare possession in today's world.  The glare of the telestial world has blinded so many of us to the inherent spiritual nature we as women are born with.  In his last conference talk, Elder D. Todd Christofferson pointed out that 'women bring with them into the world a certain virtue, a divine gift, that makes them adept at instilling such qualities as faith, courage, empathy and refinement in relationships and in cultures'.  This statement suggests that women have been gifted in this way because they have a particular responsibility in this life to lift others to higher ground.  The adversary knows this and he also knows that if he works on women to dull their spiritual natures, they will not accomplish this divine responsibility.  He uses the world and its ideals to weaken and eliminate our influence to the great detriment of our families and the society at large.  Elder Christofferson mentions three ways as a caution and a warning:

 

1.  The devaluation of marriage and of motherhood and homemaking as a career.  I remember some years ago I heard a woman of prominence discuss child care on the radio.  Her suggestion was that women use the cost of child care as an excuse to stay at home and 'do nothing'.  It saddened me greatly to hear a woman say such a thing.  The attitude that homemaking and rearing children is unimportant and demeaning to women is getting more and more prevalent in our society. 

 

 

 

2.  Sexual immorality which reinforces the lie that a woman's sexuality is what defines her worth.

I think that women have played a large part in the undermining of marriage by becoming sexually available to men.  Elder Christofferson says this:

 

"There has long been a cultural double standard that expected women to be sexually circumspect while excusing male immorality.  The unfairness of such a double standard is obvious, and it has been justifiably criticized and rejected.  In that rejection, one would have hoped that men would rise to the higher, single standard, but just the opposite has occurred - women and girls are now encouraged to be as promiscuous as the double standard expected men to be.  Where once women's higher standards demanded commitment and responsibility from men, we now have sexual relations without conscience, fatherless families, and growing poverty.  Equal-opportunity promiscuity simply robs women of their moral influence and degrades all of society.  In this hollow bargain, it is men who are 'liberated' and women and children who suffer most."

 

3.  Erasing of differences between the masculine and the feminine.  Lara Croft, as gorgeous, wealthy and adventurous as she is, has done much to push women to adopt more masculine traits.  Through the media's influence women are encouraged to be more aggressive, tough and confrontational.  It is so common now to see women in terribly violent roles, leaving dead bodies and mayhem in their wake.  Elder Christofferson goes on to say that it is "soul-numbing to see men in such roles and certainly no less when women are the ones perpetrating and suffering the violence".

 

 

Former Young Women general president Margaret D. Nadauld taught:  "The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender.  There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind.  There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined.  We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith.  We have enough greed; we need more goodness.  We have enough vanity; we need more virtue.  We have enough popularity; we need more purity".

 

 

 



The only source of our moral power is God the Father.  Elder Christofferson says that Jesus' power came through His single-minded devotion to the Father's will.  Submitting ourselves to Him in likewise manner can endow us with power also.  It is only through this relationship that we can continue to cultivate the spiritual divine nature we were born with.  The Father made us gentle, He made us kind and tender and loving.  These are all attributes that the Saviour possesses.  Nurturing our spiritual selves and putting aside the values of the telestial world will ensure that we sharpen these attributes and become powerful enough to lift others to higher ground.  This means our children, our spouses, our extended families, our friends, our co-workers, our communities.  We all know how to immerse ourselves in things of the spirit: prayer, scripture study, fasting, temple attendance, church attendance, service and living the commandments.  All this goes a long way towards enabling us to identify with our spiritual identities from day to day.  When we know who we are and don't allow the world to confuse us, we are being single minded, in other words, being at one with God.  Having our feet in two camps never works.  Being double minded often finds us sitting on the fence not being truly committed to either masters.  Know who you are and do everything you can to uphold that knowledge and you will be a power for good.


"Yet I will own them, and they shall be mine in that day when I shall come to make up my jewels".
(D&C 101:3)

 

(RS lesson taught in Mortdale Ward 24 November 2013)