A drink from the well...

Dear dreamer,

What do you do when your well runs dry? 

Scene: 

Crumbles of harden clay gripped the dusty roads as your calloused feet shuffled to Jacob’s well. It’s walls run deep into the ground and you’re thirsty. 

The heat blazes with vapors of wind and water glistening in the distance. As you lean to get a drink you see a man sitting gently on the brim of the well’s bricked walls.

He asks you to also draw him a drink of water. His voice is low and light seems to beam from his face. He’s welcoming, but you wonder , “Who is this?”

You stand puzzled as words slowly flow from your lips, “but sir you are a Jew and I am ….” (let’s fill in the blank with your own word). You are shocked and begin to remind this man that his kind doesn’t speak to your kind. 

With a grin on his face, this man says “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:14).  

Wonder fills your heart. “Who can be greater than the man (Jacob) who left this well for us? Where can I get this living water? So you ask this man to “give [you] this [living water] so [you] won’t get thirsty [again]...”(John 4:15) 

Then this man tells you something about yourself that a stranger shouldn’t know. 

It’s almost seems like he sees you, like really sees you so you question if he is a prophet, but he says he is the Messiah.

At this point, you have two choices. You can leap with joy at the invitation and accept it through faith, or you can hastily deny that there is no way Jesus would offer you living water. 

Why me? You ask. What have I done to get such an offer? His race doesn’t like my race. He must be an imposter. 

But he saw me for who I am, for who I really am; could it be that he is here to help me? Many questions may spiral in a whirlwind in your mind. 

…...

This story we are reading above is the story  of a Samaritan woman and Jesus at the well. This Samaritan woman was nameless but carried the cloak of her not-so-good reputation with her.

I believe scripture purposely depicted this woman’s story so we could relate to her and take a walk in her shoes. 

It’s interesting that we see an encounter of a Jewsih man and a Samaritan woman who had no business speaking to one another because of historical reasons, but yet they continued in conversation. 

As we watch (read) this scene from a distance we may feel a lot of emotions. We may have a lot of thoughts such as , what would I do if this was me? Or is this story fiction? What does this have to do with me? 

My question is, if it is a non-ficiton story (which I believe it is) how would you respond? What if Jesus offered you living water? 

You may begin looking at yourself, your past, your mistakes, and even your current situation you’re in and feel unworthy.

You know the Messiah is perfect but you wonder, “why would he offer living water to someone like me?”

Let’s take a look at living water a little closer to understand what is that Jesus is offering. In John 4:14 Jesus told the Samaritan woman that “those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” 

You see Jesus brings eternal life and he brings abundant life. Like water, Jesus washes away our impurities and he brings salvation(living water) to anyone and everyone, despite their background, past, or anything they think disqualifies them. 

Sometimes the wells in your life can represent: friendships, jobs, addictions, busy work, drugs, or anything that you keep running to over and over again thinking it will satisfy you, but it doesn’t. It can also represent literal water that you have to keep drinking to replenish yourself. 

So, I ask, what are the wells in your life? Have they run dry? Are you tired of drawing from that same relationship expecting different results? Are you tired of leaning on the same friends who don’t really see you? Are you tired of hiding in your mistakes and your sins? 

Well Jesus is offering you living water today.He sees you and wants you to receive everlasting life. He wants you to know that nothing on this earth can ever satisfy you,but him. 

How will you respond to this truth today!

Would you run and tell everyone you know that you met a man who “knew everything you’ve ever did...could he be the Christ?”(v28). 

The Samaritan woman chose to believe that Jesus was who he said he was. She was crazy enough to have a hope that he truly is the Messiah and that he could bring eternal life.

From this woman’s crazy faith and encounter many Samaritans believed that Jesus is indeed the Messiah; that he does bring living water.  

I ask you today, that if you believe that Jesus is the son of the Living God, that he is the Messiah the one God sent to die for our sins and that he rose with all victory and will return for his people… to take a moment and say a prayer that if you’re not saved that Jesus would give you living water, that it bubbles up like a stream on the inside of you and that you are cleansed and renewed.

Pray that you are filled with new and satisfying life through Jesus Christ. 

If your faith is crazy like this woman, then I want you to share your faith with someone else.

Tell them about the encounter you have had with Jesus. Share your faith so they too can have a chance to receive living water as well.

I’m rooting for you and I know God is reaching for you. You just need to start in faith. Believe bigger than where you are currently. Have a hope that reaches into eternity. 

P.S. Being saved and having a satisfying life doesn’t mean life becomes easy, but it does mean it becomes worth living because you now have Jesus on your side and he is victorious in all things. Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble but not to worry because he has overcome this world (John 16:33) . As someone who receives Jesus as Lord and Savior, you become someone who stands with an undefeated champion when you walk with Jesus!

Sincerely, 

Tkeyah