This Day in History: 0000-03-07

March 7 – John 4:6-14 

Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because His disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
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… 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.” 

Ever since we spent time in a remote village in a tiny country in western Africa, I have had the great privilege of reading this story with fresh eyes and a new understanding. In fact, that very day, as my love and I walked hand in hand past the village wells, under the hot desert sun, we were transported in our mind’s eye to this day with Jesus and the Samaritan woman. 

I can now understand the significance of the town well in that environment. It is the most critical element of the whole village, for without it, life would be impossible.  

As I imagine Jesus sitting there with that woman, hot and tired, and yet so completely focused on and in love with His daughter, I can’t help but note the allegory in His words. It seems so important now that I understand the environment.  

He offers her living water. A thing we can now understand to be a most critical element of our survival as the living body of Christ. It is a treasure He promised would become a fresh, bubbling spring within us, giving us eternal life. 

Friends, do we have springs of life-giving water spilling out from our lives? Has our experience with Jesus changed us so that His gift of living water not only sustains us, giving us eternal life, but overflows to others? 

This world is a parched wasteland desperately in need of the treasure we’ve so freely been given! Oh how I pray we can become like our Savior, and find ourselves so full of love for those who are lost that even when we are hot, tired, and so thirsty ourselves, we will offer to bring them to the Source of eternal life so they can find His living water for themselves.