Zamzam Water

Every time I drive to Roger’s house, I pass by this house with a banner hung on its front fence. On the banner it writes “Air Zam Zam – Air dari Syurga Untuk Semua” which is literally translated “Zamzam Water – Heavenly Water for All”

I was curious by the repeated sight of the banner and my first guess was it has some connection to do with the Muslim Holy Place, Ka’aba of Mecca. But I had to be certain, so I turned to Wang Ching see if he has some answers for me.

According to Wang Ching, Zamzam water originated outside Al’Haram Mosque, the place where Kaaba of Mecca is situated. It is the water that springs from the Zamzam well which believed to be the well where Hagar drew water for her son Ishmael, also the elder brother of Isaac.

The Muslims believe that Zamzam water is a miracle water of Allah and has miraculous values. The miracle even goes down to molecular level where it is found to have crystal-like structure, which is unique in water. Zamzam well never runs dry even during severe drought (however, several deepening were done during drought, which I personally find curious, and yet explainable, to accommodate sudden rise of water demand.)

Because of its miraculous characteristics, Muslims from all over the world consume Zamzam water directly from the well while they are on pilgrimage to Mecca. The government even installed supply system with electric water pump to channel Zamzam water from its well into Al’Haram Mosque. Local Muslims consumes the water every day while in Malaysia, Zamzam water is sold RM7 to RM12 per 500ml bottle. Its demand in the Muslim world is so high, that even fake Zamzam water is found.

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Zamzam water reminds me of Jesus and the Samaritan woman by Jacob’s well. In John 4, Jesus (who was born a Jew and has no dealing with a Samaritan) asked the Samaritan woman for a drink. The Samaritan woman was pretty much surprised being talked to, by a Jew, so she asked Jesus how he would draw water if he has nothing to draw water with. All of the sudden, Jesus brought in the term “living water” which intrigued the woman about Jesus’ identity.

Jesus continued, (John 4:13-14) “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman who heard all these was amazed and immediately asked Jesus for the water. But there was something that has to be dealt with, the woman’s secret sin. When Jesus mentioned that she has several husbands instead of one, she perceived that Jesus is a prophet, because he knew the thing that is a secret of her.

But the question is, why did Jesus need to address this issue with the woman? Why couldn’t Jesus just give her the living water she asked for, and leave? I believe Jesus wanted to deal directly with the void in the woman’s heart.

Jesus has come to satisfy our empty soul, that only he can satisfy us, and hence overflowing from our hearts, that we will never be thirsty again. But unless we truly face the things we tried to fill in those voids, we can never let Jesus satisfy us.

The woman probably craves for love. In order to try to fulfill her craving for love, she turned to having several husbands to satisfy her craving, but was it enough? No. She only wanted more and more, simply because it can never truly satisfy her. But Jesus, as the living water, is the only one that can satisfy us.

The Muslims from all over the world, travel thousands of miles from their home, to perform their pilgrimage as required by their faith and to drink from the miraculous Zamzam well. Some Muslims even perform pilgrimage more than once in their lifetime, in order to draw closer to Allah, because once, is simply not enough. Like all of us, they thirst for God; they thirst for eternal life, which they try to achieve by performing one of the five requirements to attain it. Even if you perform them all, it does not necessarily guarantee that you will be saved. Once, is simply not enough!

The same happens to us as well. We may not crave for Zamzam water, but we all crave for something. Something so common, that it cannot escape our eyes. Money, power, status, lust and etc. We all crave for that something, but it never seems to be enough. We only want more, more and more of them. We want more money, more power, higher status, more sex, more love and more fame. We often think money can fix our problems. We thought it can buy us security. We thought it can buy us comfortable and stress-free life. We thought so highly of it, the more seems to be the better. But is that truly so?

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In year 2005, the British Food Standard Agency warned its citizens to be aware of “fraudulent” Zamzam water sold in British market. It is found that Zamzam water sold in the market contains arsenic concentration that is unsafe for human consumption. In May 2011, BBC London ran a test on the original Zamzam water from the original source, and compared it to the “fraudulent” Zamzam water. The same result is obtained, that Zamzam water contains arsenic unsafe for human consumption. This was quickly refuted by the Saudi Embassy, who ran similar test under French standards. I personally found a research journal published in February 2012 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653511011787 which concludes the same. However, the Muslim community continues to ignore such warning.

Put the same situation into our own lives, we realized, more often than not, these things we try to fill up our lives with, expecting that they would bring us security and fulfillment, are exactly the things that are poisoning us. They choke us and keep us so busy trying to pursue them, they blind us from the true living water that can satisfy us, and ultimately lead us into death. Jesus offers us the living water that we will never thirst again, and warns us that these sinful things that we pursue will eventually lead us into the pit. He is there to pull us back from the pit, and yet MOST OF US, continue to ignore him.

We might laugh at the Muslims for being ignorant and drinks poisonous water, but what about us? Jesus said in Luke 6:42: “You hypocrite, first take the log that is in your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” We ought to examine ourselves. Is there something, other than Christ, that we try to fill up our hearts? Does that satisfy you? If it does not, is it stopping you from being satisfied by Christ Himself?

We must remember, we are all made to have a relationship with God. He has a place in our heart since we were made that none can fill up. You can try to fit a star into a square void in a puzzle, but none can fit in as perfect as the square it is meant for. We can only be truly satisfied by Christ alone. Therefore, pursue Him, and you will be satisfied.

Sources:

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13326566
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13267205
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-10928332
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_Well
5. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653511011787

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Today, if you read this and you want to be truly satisfy and never thirst again, I have a good news for you. Jesus Christ is available to all of us, for FREE! It is FREE, because He has paid the price for us with His own life. In order to pay for our sins, He willingly went up to the cross to be crucified. When He died, He said: “It is finished!” (John 19:30) which means He completed His work on the cross and full paid the debts of our sins, that the wrath of God was pour on to Him instead of us. On the third day, God rose Him up again to prove that we will share in His resurrection and eternal life. Today, Jesus Christ is alive and He’s opening His arms to embrace you into Heaven. In John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” All you have to do is:

1. Admit that you are a sinner and you need God to forgive you. 
2. Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and was crucified on the cross and rose again on the third day to pay the penalty of our sins. 
3. Commit yourself into following Christ as your only Lord and Savior. 

If you agree to all these, you can pray the following prayer saying:

Father in Heaven, I admit that I’m a sinner. I ask that you would forgive my sins. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was crucified on the cross and rose again on the third day to pay the penalty of my sins. From today onwards, I commit myself into following Jesus, as my only Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen!

If you have said the Sinner’s Prayer, I WELCOME YOU INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD! In John 1:12 “to all who did receive [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

And as a child, you need to grow. I (Joash) would be very happy to help you grow in God. You may contact me via email: coolbios.mkw@gmail.com or handphone: 012-3450321. 

Besides that, I recommend that you may start reading the Gospel According to John (John) in the Holy Bible. An online version is available at http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1&version=NLT or I would be happy to get you a hard copy at best I can. 

Prayer is also very important in a Christian life. You can start by talking to God like you are talking to your parents or your beloved friends, bring any request or concern to Him, He will listen to you and if you believe, you shall receive. 

Lastly, find a Bible teaching church around your neighbourhood, or approach any of your known Christian friends and ask them to bring you to one. Fellowship with other Christians is very important is our spiritual growth. You can also contact me should you have trouble looking for a church.

Last but not least, may God bless you and continue to fill you up and you shall never be thirsty again!