CHAPTER IV. 

 THE THIRST OF GOD. 



"Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink." ST. JOHN iv, 7. 



ALL paths lead to a well. It is the focus of 

 interest, the vital point, and creative centre 

 of the landscape. It attracts all things to itself, 

 and diffuses its blessings, as a star diffuses its light, 

 far around. It is the place where life begins and 

 where it is constantly renewed. It has a perpetual 

 springtime about it. Our Lord's steps, in His toil- 

 some journey northwards from Judaea to Galilee, along 

 the arid rocky back-bone of Palestine, led naturally to 

 such a well. The same cause that drew to its side the 

 blade of green grass, the lily of the field, and the over- 

 shadowing tree, the timid coney, and the thirsty wayfarer, 

 drew Him who shared the sympathies and experiences 

 of His creation, and linked the wants of His own life 

 with those of the least of His creatures. The well on 

 whose shaded brink He sat down, in the fervid heat of 

 the Eastern noon, to rest His weary frame, was one not 



more celebrated for its delicious water than for its august 



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