Shouldn’t everyone who hears about the Holy Spirit want it? Ideally, they should.  Well, John’s gospel gives an account of one woman who wanted living water, which is a term used for the Holy Spirit. Jesus met this woman at a well. She had come to fetch water, and what had started as an ordinary trip to fetch water turned into an extraordinary encounter with Jesus—an encounter that left this woman forever changed.

When the woman came to the well, Jesus engaged her in a conversation. He spoke to her about living water; however, the woman thought Jesus was talking about the water in the well. I mean who wouldn’t? We are at a well, right? Jesus then explained, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14, NKJV). This living water is the Holy Spirit and after hearing about it, the woman wanted it. She said, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw” (John 4:15).

Initially, this woman’s desire for living water was probably to make her life easier. She thought she would no longer need to come to the well for water, but as her conversation with Jesus prolonged her desire changed more so when she learned that Jesus is Christ. Immediately, she left her waterpot and the water she had come to the well for and went to share the good news about what she had heard with the people in her city. “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” She was now inviting others to come and drink the living water and guess what! Many came, met Jesus, and believed in Him. What a difference meeting the living water made in this woman’s life, and let’s just celebrate her for a moment, for if this woman could convince her city to believe in Jesus without having the living water inside her because the Holy Spirit was not yet given, just imagine what she could do if the living water was flowing in her.

Now, let’s talk about her identity. She was a Samaritan, and if you are familiar with Bible history, you know that Samaritans and Jews were not on friendly terms; therefore, this woman was despised by others, and to make matters worse, her reputation was questionable. Apparently, she had had five husbands and the one she was currently with was not her husband, but none of her shortcomings or failures disqualified her. Jesus still offered her living water. This tells us that regardless of a person’s identity, reputation, background, nationality, ethnicity, culture, or whatever else we think may disqualify them if they thirst for living water—the Holy Spirit—they can receive it, and if they have the Holy Spirit, they will likely flourish.