Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” – John 4:10
It was just another day for her. Off to the well she goes, pail in hand, to draw some water for the cooking and cleaning that awaits. But when she arrives, something very peculiar happens. A man is already there. And he’s clearly Jewish. She quietly keeps to herself, trying her best to avoid eye contact and a personal interaction that might lead to yet another hateful confrontation.
As she lowers her pail into the well, she is amazed to hear the man ask her for a drink of water from the well. Now she’s clearly taken aback by such a request. Not only has this Jew spoken to her without any outward disdain, but he’s asking her for a favor.
But notice what she doesn’t do. She doesn’t oblige his request. Instead, she challenges his request with a question. And it’s a perfectly legit question at that. “Why do you ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink? You’re obviously a Jew.”
This initial question that this Samaritan woman asks will lead to a series of further questions and responses that will completely change her life.
Make no mistake, the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well that day didn’t happen by chance. He knew her life story. He knew that she was a Samaritan. He knew that she had several husbands and that she was living in sin. Jesus wasn’t there to quench his thirst with physical water. He was there to quench her thirst with spiritual living water.
Her ethnicity didn’t matter to Jesus. Her past didn’t matter to him. He loved this woman, and because he loved her, he was concerned about her future, her salvation. That’s why he was there.
“I am the Messiah,” he told her. And she believed him. She knew he was much more than just a prophet. This man, Jesus, was the man her heart had been longing for her entire life. And off she went, running back into her village to tell everyone about this man, her Messiah, who knew everything about her. It ended up being anything but an ordinary day for her. It turned into a day that she would remember for the rest of her life.
I don’t know about you, but when I’ve been working out in my garden in the summer heat, I get really thirsty. And when I become really thirsty, the only thing that can truly quench my thirst is pure water. I’m not interested in a cola or a glass of lemonade. I want water. So I take a break and go around to the back of the house and I turn on the outside tap. I let it run for a few seconds, so it gets nice and cold, and then I bend down, cup my hands, and I drink. And I drink. And I drink so more. Then I go do some more lawn work, but sure enough – I get thirsty again. And back to the water tap I go.
But Jesus tells us that once we drink His spiritual living water, we’re replenished forever. We don’t have to keep going back to the well. Our tanks are always full, and our thirst is forever quenched through His Holy Spirit.
“Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” – John 4:13-14
No matter our background, no matter what we’ve done in our past, Jesus welcomes all of us to come to His well to quench our thirst. He knows us. He loves us. He cares about our future, our salvation.
Are you thirsty?
Former Blackout Artist 