The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” John 4:25-26
Could a mundane trip to the grocery store change your life? This is what happened to the woman at the well. Much like a modern day woman gathering her reusable shopping bags, she picked up her water jar and headed to the well.
Was it wisdom that guided her to the well at high noon, an unlikely hour to avoid the crowds? Or was it shame that scolded her into avoiding people related to any of her five ex-husbands? We don’t know, but the Son of God sitting at the well knew it all. He had an appointment with a woman he would soon die for.
As this Samaritan woman approached the well she found a Jewish man sitting on it. She walked all this way to find someone in her way. “Lovely”, she must have sarcastically sighed. Then, the man had the audacity to greet her with a demand, “Give me a drink.” She challenges him with “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a Samaritan woman?” He begins to speak of living water that eternally satisfies. Who does he think he is? He doesn’t even have a bucket. This just keeps getting better…
I take the liberty to ascribe sarcastic undertones to this character, because the woman at the well is me. Her five ex-husbands are my five senses I feed that are never satisfied.
She came to the well to carry water back to a man who was not even her husband, when Jesus asked her to serve Him instead. She expected the Messiah to come, but she never expected him to show up at that well. In fact, she never expected him to show up to her personally, but He did. Because He loves her, the same way He loves you and me.
Her life was forever changed. The story goes on to tell us that she left her bucket, ran back to town and led the entire city to Christ.
How many times have you gone to the well of relationship for intimacy, acceptance and love only to be left with an empty bucket?
When hunger sends you back to the store, will you shop down empty aisles? Avoiding distractions, holding defensively to patterns of life?
Are you willing to be interrupted by the God of Surprise?
Can you imagine the anticipation Jesus felt as he sat on that well waiting to surprise her with a new life, new passion, and new purpose?
He’s waiting for you.
In His Unfailing Love,
brandi
