My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.

Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;

For they are life to those who find them

and health to a man's whole body.

Above all else, guard your heart,

for it is the wellspring of life (Prov 4:20-23).

Nobody imagines that the tree of life, which is said to have been in the Garden of Eden, is in his/her own heart. Yet, the Bible teaches that you can still eat from it today, if you know how. “The wellspring of life” in the above scripture signifies the same as the tree of life. While the tree of life is for the fruit you eat, the wellspring of life is for the water you drink. It was this water that was watering the Garden of Eden.

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters (Gen 2:10).

At the beginning of creation, rain had not yet fallen on the earth, and the ground was watered only by springs that came up from the earth.

… and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground (vv. 5-6)—

With this water that came up from the earth, “all kinds of trees”—“trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food” were produced. Among them were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

An interesting analogy can be drawn between this story of creation and the story of John 4:

Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour (John 4:6).

Jesus was tired from the journey, and was thirsty. There, this woman came to draw water from the well. This setting of dryness is similar to what is seen at the beginning of the story of creation in Gen 2. Jacob’s well, however, is a man-made well representing the lifestyle of seeking water under the old covenant. Jeremiah spoke of this lifestyle and said, “They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jer 2:13).” Compare it with what Jesus said:

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

Jesus pointed out to her that she was seeking her water from a wrong place and a wrong partner. Now the right partner appeared to her, and he taught her how to get the right water from the right place.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth (vv. 23-24).

Do not think that it is difficult for you to be one with God. As husband and wife become one flesh in marriage, you become one with God in spirit when you worship him.

Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit (1 Cor 6:16-17).

You are a very spiritual being, though you may not think or feel so. Without spiritual fellowship with God, you would never be happy or satisfied. Your satisfaction comes only when you worship your spiritual Father in spirit and in truth. This way of worship has now become available to you through Jesus’ death and resurrection. You do not need to drink from Jacob’s well or broken cisterns any more. With Jesus living in you, you are now being created daily as the wellspring of life coming up from your spirit waters your soul and body.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life (Prov 4:23).