The Fountain

I like the names of old pubs and seeing how they often link to Biblical and spiritual themes. There is one in Barnoldswick called the Fountain Inn, which was built the same year as our chapel, 1816. It is an unusual name. There are no fountains nearby to my knowledge, so it doubtless refers to the liquid refreshment on offer.

In Zechariah 13:1, we read ‘In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.’. Fountains, unlike pots of water or glasses of ale, bubble up from deep within, providing a source of liquid that never shall run out. This fountain is Christ, whose healing balm cleanses the soul and satisfies the spirit.

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. John 4:14