After a successful outreach effort in Judea, resulting in many baptisms, Jesus and His disciples depart for Jesus’ hometown of Galilee. It’s about noon on one of the travel days, and the group arrives at a city of Samaria where they stop for a rest. The disciples go to purchase food while Jesus sits on a well to wait for them.

While sitting on the well, Jesus has a conversation with a Samaritan woman that begins with Him asking her for a drink of water. When she hesitates, He tries to impress upon her the insignificance of what He is requesting as compared to what He has to offer her:

“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.” (John 4:10)

The woman clearly doesn’t understand what Jesus is talking about, so He makes the comparison between the well water and the living water as clear as possible:

• I’m asking you for a cup of water from this well and “whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.” (John 4:13)

• The “living water” that I can offer is such that “whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; [it] shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)

You almost expect Him to add: So, this cup of water from the well — is it really too much to ask?

If we have given our lives to Christ and been baptized in His name, then we have been given this same “living water” today. It represents:

• Forgiveness of our sins
• The Holy Ghost to reside within us
• Our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life

All of the above never wears out. It’s sufficient to establish a lively hope of everlasting life within us and carry us through the remainder of our lives until such time as we receive our inheritance in the eternal kingdom of God. And, it is all available to us solely because Christ gave His life on the cross for us.

When we consider this great gift of God and how much it means to us — If it were possible to get Jesus a glass of water, would we be willing to do it or is it too much to ask?

OK, so we can’t get Jesus a glass of water. But there are other things we can do — things that pale in comparison to what Jesus has given us but that we sometimes act like it’s too much to ask. Perhaps it would help if we think about it this way:

Jesus gave His life on the cross to pay for my sins and He has made it possible for me to inherit everlasting life. Is it too much to ask for me to:

• Go to church?
• Give my testimony?
• Participate in the ordinances?
• Show love to the brothers and sisters?
• Donate to the church?
• Accept responsibilities in the church?

Some might look at the list above (which is not all-inclusive, by the way) and say it’s not necessary to do these things (“I love the Lord,” “God knows my heart,” “There are other ways to serve God,” etc.). However, when you consider the scriptural basis for the above and you consider what Jesus has done for you, is it really too much to ask?

The scripture doesn’t say whether Jesus ever got the cup of water from the woman at the well. She was so excited about meeting the Lord and being forgiven of her many sins that she left her waterpot and hurried into the city to tell people about Jesus. When she returned later with the people, if Jesus still needed a drink, she surely would have been happy to give Him as much as He wanted. After what He gave her, it definitely wasn’t too much to ask.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.