Gleanings for March 2

LIVING WATER

John 4: 1 – 10, Selected verses: NLB: “Jesus went to Galilee; Jacob’s well was there; and He being tired from a long walk sat beside the well. A Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” The woman was surprised for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.

“The woman asked, ‘Why are you a Jew, asking me a Samaritan, for a drink.’ Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and Who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you LIVING WATER.”

Sometime today, please find this portion of scripture in your own Bible and read and study Verses 1 through 25 for yourself. This meeting Jesus had with the woman at the well was not just “coincidence”. Prior to the recorded portion above we are told that Jesus “found it necessary” (one writer suggests it was “a divine compulsion”) for Him to go through Samaria, not just a geographical consideration.

As we look at the life of Jesus—He shows no prejudice toward race or gender. Notice a comment from my Bible: “Jesus sense of need to travel through Samaria (an area shunned by the Jews) demonstrates great compassion in reaching out with reconciling love. He reaches out with a divine love and a human sensitivity to a woman who was of a different race and whose morals were questionable.

“This is consistent with Jesus frequent actions. Breaking the mold of the traditionally religious, He became a friend of tax collectors and the generally sinful who were not only loathed by the supposedly “righteous” but were thought to be unworthy of attention. Jesus gave time and energy to relationships, which sometimes meant that He experienced pain and loss in the process. (See John 11: 35, 38).

“In 4: 4 – 9, He provides yet another life quality for us to emulate: He calls us to enter intentionally and sensitively into the experiences of other brothers and sisters in Christ, even if they are different from us—culturally, ethnically, or denominationally.”

Those thoughts should challenge us to make sure that we have opened our heart to receive the LIVING WATER that He continues to offer people today. Here are words to a song that may have been inspired by the visit Jesus had with the woman in John the 4^th Chapter:

“Like the woman at the well, I was seeking for things that could not satisfy;

And then I heard my Savior speaking, “Draw from My well that never shall run dry.

Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up Lord; come and quench this thirsting of my soul.

Bread of heaven fill me till I want no more, fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.

If you are hungering and thirsting for a life that will satisfy—Jesus is the answer. When the Lord reminds you of something blocking the answer—don’t try to change the subject until you take care of the problem (See John 4: 15 - 20).

Your Savior has come and He wants you to know:

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!!!