And today there are thirsting souls sitting close by the living fountain. But they are looking far away from the well that contains the refreshing water, and, though told that the water is close by, they will not believe....

As the world’s Redeemer, the Son of God took upon Him our human nature.... Hungry and thirsty, He tarried to rest at Jacob’s well, near the city of Sychar, while His disciples went to buy food in the city....

As Jesus sat by the well side, the cool, refreshing water, so near and yet so inaccessible to Him, only increased His thirst. He had neither rope nor bucket with which to draw, and He waited until someone should come to the well. He might have performed a miracle and thus have obtained a draft from the well, had He wished, but this was not God’s plan.... 

“There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.” The woman answered, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” Christ was near to the woman of Samaria, and she knew Him not. She was thirsting for the truth, yet knew not that He, the Truth, was beside her and was able to enlighten her. And today there are thirsting souls sitting close by the living fountain. But they are looking far away from the well that contains the refreshing water, and, though told that the water is close by, they will not believe.

Jesus answered the woman, saying, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?” Yes, Jesus could have answered, the One who is speaking to you is the only begotten Son of God; I am greater than your father Jacob, for before Abraham was, I am. But He made answer, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”...

Christ was just as truly the water of life to Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, and all who received His instruction then as He is at the present time to those who ask of Him the refreshing draft.—Signs of the Times, April 22, 1897. FH 247


Because they cannot fathom all its mysteries, the skeptic and the infidel reject God’s word; and not all who profess to believe the Bible are free from danger on this point. The apostle says, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12. It is right to study closely the teachings of the Bible and to search into “the deep things of God” so far as they are revealed in Scripture. 1 Corinthians 2:10. While “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God,” “those things which are revealed belong unto us.” Deuteronomy 29:29. But it is Satan’s work to pervert the investigative powers of the mind. A certain pride is mingled with the consideration of Bible truth, so that men feel impatient and defeated if they cannot explain every portion of Scripture to their satisfaction. It is too humiliating to them to acknowledge that they do not understand the inspired words. They are unwilling to wait patiently until God shall see fit to reveal the truth to them. They feel that their unaided human wisdom is sufficient to enable them to comprehend the Scripture, and failing to do this, they virtually deny its authority. It is true that many theories and doctrines popularly supposed to be derived from the Bible have no foundation in its teaching, and indeed are contrary to the whole tenor of inspiration. These things have been a cause of doubt and perplexity to many minds. They are not, however, chargeable to God’s word, but to man’s perversion of it. SC 108



There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. John 4:7 (King James Version)