Thirsty?

So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw." John 4:5-15

This passage has so much information and brings up lots of questions...who are the people of Samaria, why was this woman at the well in the middle of the day... and why didn't Jesus go into the town with the disciples? The Samaritans were half-breed Jews and thus the Jews and Samaritans had little respect for each other. They didn't generally even speak to each other. In the culture of that day and place men and women didn't speak to strangers--so Jesus was being very bold in asking this woman for a drink. Actually He was hot and tired from traveling--just like you and I are when we've walked six miles or more on a hot day. Jesus sat to rest while His disciples went into town to get food--or as the scripture tells us "meat"--not just tea and bread. It was noonish--long after most women had been to the well to draw their water for the day. This woman was despised by others--perhaps considered a woman of ill-repute--so she went to get water when no one else was there. Jesus' invitation to that woman and to us is for "living water" offering eternal life. Another invitation is to reach out those whose paths cross with ours.

RSVP: So how will you respond to Jesus today...for eternal life...for reaching out and sharing Jesus with others?

Prayer~ Thank you Jesus for being obedient to the Father and offering "living water" to just one woman. You didn't need to have a group of a dozen, of hundreds, or of thousands of people to whom to preach. Help me to know what to say to those whose paths cross with mine, that I can share your living water with them.

© 2014 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.