Today’s scripture: John 4: 4-26 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Tommy Chittenden):
This remarkable dialogue between Jesus and the woman who came to draw water from Jacob’s well began with a simple request, “Will you give me a drink?”
Jesus knew of her history and the reputation she owned. Perhaps she came to draw water at noon — in the heat of the day — in an attempt to avoid meeting others. Little did she know the timing of her visit to the well would bring her face to face with yet another — One who would not add to her tarnished reputation, but instead One who would offer her Living Water to soothe the pain, remove the guilt, and satisfy her thirsty soul.
Maybe no one had ever spoken to her about a spiritual thirst, so her spiritual eyes and ears did not receive the Truth of which Jesus spoke. Right in the middle of this powerful conversation Jesus opens a window of understanding for her to look through. He said, “Go, call your husband and come back.” After the Samaritan quickly realized that this man knew all about her private life — she quickly changed the subject!
How many times can we remember holding, for all to see, an empty bucket known as “our life” in our hands? So very thirsty, so wanting to be filled with forgiveness, identity, purpose, and to know joy and inner peace in spite of life’s circumstances. But when God sends messengers to freely give us the Living Water, we “change the subject.” The emptiness, the pain, the loneliness, the fear, the parts of us we have believed for so long are unlovable becomes an unwelcome subject and not open for discussion, thank-you-very-much, much less healing!
Jesus has always honored our free will. He will let us choose to either face the truth of who we are by receiving the incredible healing power he freely gives — or change the subject! Jesus met the Samaritan woman on her ground and at the very moment she needed to be made whole!
Looking for answers and explanations to the questions of your heart? He is standing before you this very moment as Living Water that will become a “spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Thought for the day: Will today be the day I give Jesus my “bucket of a life” and with joy say “fill it up, come and quench this thirsting in my soul” or will I once again — change the subject?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to start, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.