Think about how you feel when you are thirsty. When you don’t drink enough water to stay hydrated your mouth becomes dry because it is unable to produce saliva and your body is low on energy.
Now think about your soul being thirsty. What condition is your soul in when it is thirsty? What do you do when this happens? You try to quench your thirst right? It can be tempting to give in to worldly desires as the devil deceives you with the idea that giving into sin will not harm you. He wants you to rely on fleeting pleasures of sin. He wants you to believe the lie that the Bible doesn’t apply to today’s world. That God somehow changes his mind about what is considered acceptable and good today. You can walk by faith knowing that God looks at you with love despite your sin. He wants to remove the barriers that sin places in your relationship with Him.
You may have read about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in your Bible. What stood out to you about this woman? Maybe you can relate to feeling the same way she did. How then, can God point your heart in the right direction? Think about your answers to these questions as you read about Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well.
Jesus Returning to Galilee
Jesus was returning to Galilee after leaving Judea where the Pharisees, an ancient Jewish group that followed Jewish laws and traditions of their religion, were upset when they heard that He was making disciples and baptizing more disciples than John. (John 4:1-3 AMP) They were suspicious of Jesus, His disciples, and John the Baptist because of their Jewish laws and traditions that held to the belief that the Messiah would return to save Israel from their enemies and restore the Kingdom of David.
The Samaritan Woman at the Well
On Jesus’ way back to Galilee, he stopped to rest in Sychar, a town in Samaria which was near the tract of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, tired as He was from His journey, sat down by the well. It was then about the sixth hour (noon). Then a woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink”– For His disciples had gone off into the city to buy food–
The Samaritan woman asked Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans.)
When Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.”
God’s Living Water
The woman was at the well during the heat of the day. She didn’t want to go to the well in the morning when other women would go to gather their water. She knew that the Jews looked at Samaritans as enemies of God as they were half-Jew and half-Gentile. She knew that these women would be critical of her because of her race. Also, she had been married five times and was living with a man that she wasn’t married to which made her an adulterer. Other people judged and condemned her, but Jesus demonstrated His love for her.
Jesus was sent to meet this woman at the well. He knew that she would be there. Jesus knew this woman’s soul was thirsty. He viewed her with mercy, compassion, and love because God is love. Jesus wanted her to follow Him. She would see how she was headed in the wrong direction and how Jesus can point her heart in the right direction.
In response, she would turn away from her sinful lifestyle by surrendering to God’s call to let Him quench the thirst of her soul with His living water and start living focused on eternal life.
The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not get thirsty nor [have to continually] come all the way here to draw.” John 4:15 AMP
At this, Jesus said, “Go, call your husband and come back.” The woman answered, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I do not have a husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the man you are now living with is not your husband. You have said this truthfully.” John 4:16-18 AMP
At this moment, we become aware of the fact that the Samaritan woman was trying to quench her thirst for love in man alone. She forgot her worth and value along the journey through life based on her circumstances and experiences. She was seeking man’s approval above God’s.
Think about how you can relate to the Samaritan woman on some level at this point. Your situation might look different than hers, but can you relate in some way? She doesn’t want to openly talk about her sin with Jesus. She turns the conversation into a different topic.
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I see that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one ought to worship is in Jerusalem [at the temple].” John 4:19-20 AMP
We see here that the Samaritan woman was focusing on a divine issue of worship. She didn’t want to talk about her sin out of fear of being shamed. The same reason why she went to the well at noon to gather water. She was used to being shamed and expected that Jesus would shame her as well.
Jesus replied, “Woman, believe Me, a time is coming [when God’s kingdom comes] when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You [Samaritans] do not know what you worship; we [Jews] do know what we worship, for salvation is from the Jews. But a time is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit [from the heart, the inner self] and in truth; for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers. God is spirit [the Source of life, yet invisible to mankind], and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John4:20-24 AMP
The woman said to Him, “I know that the Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ—the Anointed); when that One comes, He will tell us everything [we need to know].” John 4:25 AMP
Jesus had to point her heart in the right direction. It is not where you worship, but who you worship. God desires worship that comes from the Spirit. When you become a believer, the Holy Spirit enters your heart. You can worship God in spirit and truth as your hearts fill up with God’s love.
Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you, am He (the Messiah).” Just then His disciples came, and they were surprised to find Him talking with a woman. However, no one said, “What are You asking about?” or, “Why are You talking to her?” John 4:26 AMP
Then the woman left her water jar, and went into the city and began telling the people, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done! Can this be the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)?” So the people left the city and were coming to Him. John 4:27 AMP
When you read this, do you see the water jug as a metaphor for her past? Leaving her water jug is like leaving her past behind and surrendering to God’s plan for her life. She is moving forward in the right direction toward God’s love. Can you see how God’s love is different from the love that we express as humans? In your own strength, your heart doesn’t have the capacity to love others as God loves us. That is why having a close relationship with God is important. God’s love, through the Holy Spirit, fills your heart and His love pours out of your heart to others.
Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus [to have a meal], saying, “Rabbi (Teacher), eat.”
But He told them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him something to eat?” John 4:31-33 AMP
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to completely finish His work. John 4: 34 AMP
A Call to Holiness
God wants you to choose to surrender to His plan for your life and walk by faith in Him and use the gifts He gave you to demonstrate the love of God to others. It is a call to spend time with God in a close relationship so that he can renew your mind and fill your heart with His love. He is calling you to put your faith in action so that you can learn from Him and become more Christlike. It is a call to holiness.
Reaping and Sowing
Do you not say, ‘It is still four months until the harvest comes?’ Look, I say to you, raise your eyes and look at the fields and see, they are white for harvest. Already the reaper is receiving his wages and he is gathering fruit for eternal life; so that he who plants and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true, ‘One [person] sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap [a crop] for which you have not worked. Others have worked and you have been privileged to reap the results of their work.” John 4: 34-38 AMP
Jesus did the work for your salvation so that you do not have to pay the price for your sins. You reap the benefits of eternal life from the seeds Jesus planted. His crucifixion, death, and resurrection brought the necessary reconciliation that separated sinful people and God.
The verse below from Hebrews 13: 1-6 tells you how you can put your faith in God into action.
Let love of your fellow believers continue. Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers–being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as if you were their fellow prisoner, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body [and subject to physical suffering]. Marriage is to be held in honor among all [that is, regarded as something of great value], and the marriage bed undefiled [by immorality or by any sexual sin]; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed–be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I WILL NEVER [under any circumstances] DESERT YOU [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], NOR WILL I FORSAKE or LET YOU DOWN or RELAX MY HOLD ON YOU [assuredly not]!” So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently say,
(Hebrews 13: 1-6 AMP)
“THE LORD IS MY HELPER [in time of need], I WILL NOT BE AFRAID.
WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”
