John 4:10-14 THE LIVING WATER
In continuation to our devotion yesterday, Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman to radically initiate the reconciliation between the Jews and the Samaritans. But aside from breaking through a generational rift, Jesus also stepped in to a culturally uncomfortable dialogue with the woman at the well so that He can relay the most important message He has for the people of Samaria. Jesus got to Jacob's well at about the sixth hour which is around noon. At the same time, the woman came to draw water and Jesus asked her for a drink. The woman was surprised by the request because, by tradition, Jewish people have no dealings with Samaritans (v. 9). Jews typically avoid people from Samaria, making it very unusual to ask or receive a favor from them. Moreover, Jewish men were highly prohibited to make contact with women in public due to some prejudicial customs in Jesus' time.
If we notice, the woman was at the well with Jesus at around noon. This was a rather unusual time for women to draw water (women go together early in the morning) and she also came alone. By this we can deduce that the woman was perhaps an outcast. Otherwise, she just really had an urgent need for water at that time. Later on in the chapter we'll find that the woman was more likely an outcast due to the way she lived her life. And now, we see that Jesus was crossing a lot of barriers so that He can bring the Good News to her.
“Jesus answered here, ‘If you knew the GIFT OF GOD, and who it is that is asking to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you LIVING WATER.’”
Jesus knew the woman - her life, her past, and all that is in between - and He did not shy away to deal with her. Likewise, Jesus knew every single one of us even before we were born and He still chose to deal with our messy lives. We all have a God-shaped void in our hearts that only Jesus can satisfy. He is the Living Water that never runs dry. Regardless of knowing the woman's full background and confronting her head on about her sins (v. 16-18), Jesus the Messiah still offered her the living water. Jesus gave the woman the chance to see what He can offer as a Savior; to become the only Someone who can suffice all the void in her heart that she tried to fill in with all the men who came to her life.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks from this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give them 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.’”
As we learn about God's mercy towards our sins and redeeming grace for our eternal destiny, would we also respond like the woman at the well by saying,
"Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water?"
As the Lord speaks to our hearts today, I hope that God will show us the areas in our life that need to be fully entrusted to Him. Jesus is the only One who can satisfy our souls. And just like when other people take us granted, we also break God's heart by putting Him in the back burner of our lives.
“For my people have committed two evils: THEY HAVE FORSAKEN ME, THE FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATERS, AND HEWED OUT CISTERNS FOR THEMSELVES, BROKEN CISTERNS THAT CAN HOLD NO WATER.”
What is the well that you keep coming back to? What is this broken cistern that you still keep holding on to?
PRAYER
God of Mercy, forgive us for all of our sins and for the many times that we keep having you as our last resort to everything. We have taken You for granted and have failed to love You completely. In return, we always end up being hurt because we have been trying to fill up the spaces in our hearts that only You should possess. God, we ask that You come in to our lives in massive force so that You can kick out everything that took the spotlight from You. We give You our addiction, earthly passion, greed, selfishness, impurities, and many others. Like the Samaritan woman, we also want Your Living Water to flow through. Fill us, God and become our foremost priority. We love You, God. Thank You for everything. In Jesus' Name, Amen!