Witnessing for Christ – the Woman at the well

Once again, I could explain my view points on the piece of scripture I chose. However, I choose not to. What speaks higher than the witnessing that Jesus did himself? Absolutely NOTHING!

⁵Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

 ⁶Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

 ⁷There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

 ⁸(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

 ⁹Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

 ¹⁰Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

 ¹¹The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

 ¹²Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

 ¹³Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

 ¹⁴But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

 ¹⁵The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

 ¹⁶Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

 ¹⁷The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

 ¹⁸For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

 ¹⁹The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

 ²⁰Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

 ²¹Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

 ²²Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

 ²³But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

 ²⁴God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 ²⁵The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

 ²⁶Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

 ²⁷And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

 ²⁸The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

 ²⁹Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

 ³⁰Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
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³⁹And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

 ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

 ⁴¹And many more believed because of his own word;

 ⁴²And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

{John 4:5-30, 39-42}

Are you starving, hungry, or stuffed?

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; – Psalm 63:1

Wow, what a powerful verse. I stumbled upon it on biblegateway.com, and this was the verse of the day. Really look at this verse and meditate on it a moment; then you may keep reading.

This world leaves a person weary and starving. People try their hardest to fill that hunger with wicked things like pornography, alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, other drugs . . . These things only leave the land more thirsty.

This world belongs to the devil. Think about it. Satan connects with fire and water puts fire out. Why would he be able to quench your thirst? Fire dries up the water. You will never be able to obtain that fresh, cooling liquid as long as you are walking with the prince of fire.

There is one source of water/food in a land that is so dry, and that source is not of this world. That source is the CREATOR of this world!

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. – John 6:35

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. – John 7:37

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. – Revelation 21:6

Have you ever been to a grocery store while you’re hungry? It is a dangerous time to go. You suddenly get home with a grocery bill doubled of what it should be and food you did not intend to buy. Why? Because when a person is hungry, their stomachs become their brains. Your body craves nutrition, and you are on sensory overload with so many choices around you.

It is possible to feel ravished and make unwise decisions in our spiritual lives too. If we are not consistent in our devotions and church attendance, if we are not consistent in our prayer times, we will starve ourselves. Sometimes, this can trigger an uncontrollable hunger. The next thing you know, people are pulling you in negative directions because everything looks good to you. You can’t use the proper discernment anymore because your stomach has taken over.

If we eat a full meal, and are either pleasantly full or over-stuffed, it can move to the other direction. Suddenly, nothing looks good. You bypass items that later you may ask, “Why did I not buy that?” Your bill may be smaller in this instance, but you may have the headache of having to return later.

When we hunger and thirst for the Lord, He will feed us through His Word, through time spent in prayer, through our pastors, through brothers and sisters in Christ, through just about anything. If we aren’t hungry or thirsty, we won’t pay any attention. Sometimes, if we are not careful, we can take in more than we can chew. We take a ton of information in without processing it. After a while, we become full and have no interest in processing it anymore.

I find that when going to the store with a controllable appetite, but not ravished, it works best. I have enough hunger that things sound good; however, not so much that I buy into junk I don’t need. I am able to take my time and consider my purchases instead of rushing through. That is how we should approach our spiritual walks as well! We should have a hunger that we can meditate and dwell upon the the food God has for us, without being led astray to junk that could harm us.

Do you have a healthy appetite for the Lord or is it stifled? Are you starving yourself to irrational decisions or are you hungry enough to eat properly? Evaluate your walk and see what the Lord is telling you!

He’s Still Waiting By the Well

A few of the girls and I are singing one of my favorite songs for the church in a couple of weeks, “He’s Still Waiting By the Well.” The words to this song are so encouraging, reminding us that Jesus wants us to accept His gift of salvation. There are a couple little tricky parts to the song, but I know God will help us to get through that. Today, I was reading the account the song is based on and found so many wonderful things!

In the Gospel of John, the story of Jesus resting at the well is a familiar one to many. As a Jew, it was out of the norm for him to talk to a Samaritan woman. I think about myself and how “out of the norm” it was for him to talk to me. Gentiles were considered heathen in Old Testament days, and for the most part, they did not receive the chance for salvation (there were exceptions, of course). I praise God that Jesus likes to do things “out of the norm” and to do things His way not ours!

I think about the picture of salvation in this story. The woman stumbles upon Jesus as she seeks water to quench her thirst. She takes water from the well, but she must return each day to get more because it doesn’t last very long. It lacks nourishment and fulfillment. Sound familiar? This world leaves us empty and thirsty, desiring something better.

The woman meets Jesus, and she is very curious about Him. He is different (unique). His compassion proves astounding; His wisdom presents itself as mind boggling. His attitude about things, which is entirely dissimilar from everyone else, causes her to wonder. You probably can guess where I am going with this. As Christians, that is how we are supposed to be! Lost people should be curious about someone walking with God. Born-again Christians’ compassion should affect the world’s curiosity. The attitude of God’s children should be completely different from this world. We are to be Christ-like, not world-like. Anywhoo, because of His uniqueness, she was drawn to Him (as when a person is headed toward salvation).

Jesus tells her about the living water that he can give her that will sustain her forever. This water is like no other, which springs up in the soul. It refreshes and creates growth in one’s life.  Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:13-14)

She doesn’t understand at first, but she knows she wants to find out more. Often, people may not be saved the first time they are witnessed to. They may not be saved the first time they go to church. The seed needs to be planted, and it gets watered and grows. She was curious, and Jesus watered the seed he planted.

Repentance shines loud and clear in this story. He tells her to go tell her husband, but she says she has no husband. It comes out that she had been married five times, and she stayed with someone she wasn’t married to. He revealed her sin, and she confessed it. He was pleased that she repented. When we are lost, we don’t understand sin on our own. When He gets our attention, he reveals our sin. We then confess it and get saved.

Through their conversation, the woman was saved and knew Christ as personal Saviour. She trusted that he presented the truth, and she was freed from the bondage of sin. Her experience with Jesus presents what every single person can experience himself or herself. It takes belief, repentance, and faith. It takes trusting that Jesus is Lord and can save us from hell.

I praise God that he met me at the well and saved my soul. It took me a while before I understood what he was telling me, but once I understood it, I received a blessing greater than I can explain!

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Have you met Jesus at the well yet? Have you allowed Him to give you the living water of eternal life?

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