The Woman at the Well

                                          

  You've heard of her right?   The woman who was thirsty for something, but didn't know what? Yeah, her.  That's me. But, I have found what I did not know. I have tasted what I had only hoped existed.  And now that I know, now that I have tasted- I never want to live my life as if I don't and haven't.

I also, like the woman at the well want to share this Living Water I have with others.  I also want to hear many people say to me, "We no longer believe just because of what you have said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."  John 4:42

  For those of you who may not be as familiar with this story, please, let me share it... The setting is at a well in Sychar, a town in Samaria.  Samaria was a town that the Jewish people tried to avoid at all costs, because they viewed the Samaritan people as inferior.  Jesus however, took this route and he became tired and sat down to rest next to this well.  A woman of poor reputation came to retrieve water from this well in the middle of the day. The time of day does matter, because the women generally collected their water in the morning and evenings.  This woman though, I will guess out of shame and not exactly being favored by the other women in her community, came for her water around noon.

     In this culture, it would have been highly inappropriate for a respectable Jewish man to be alone talking to a woman who was not his wife and to be speaking to a Samaritan at all.  But, I absolutely love how Jesus busted right through these barriers with 6 simple words- "Will you give me a drink?" Clearly surprised, and perhaps assuming He was a bit delirious from the heat she responds, " You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman, how can you ask me for a drink?!" (italics and exclamation added;) Jesus goes on to say, " If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water." From here she looks at practical points, like-" well,you don't actually have anything do draw water up with," and maybe she is thinking that this guy is suffering from more than the heat.  Regardless of what was actually going through her mind at this time, Jesus said to her, " Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring  of water welling up to eternal life."

  Again, looking at the practical she tells Him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to  keep coming here to draw water." Now, part of me wonders if there was maybe a hint of sarcasm in her voice at this point. Maybe not, but whether there was or not, this next part of the conversation caught her attention. Jesus told her to go get her husband, to which she told Him she didn't have one.  He said to her, "You are right when you say that you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man

you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."  This gives us more insight to her poor reputation.  It doesn't say why she has been married so many times or why the man she is with now hasn't married her, but I would imagine this woman to feel a bit used, but also using these men to fill something in her.  Something that clearly hasn't been fulfilled.  Something  that only satisfies and feels right for a moment.

    There is a bit more dialogue between Jesus and this woman. (Jn.4:19-26) Then, Jesus reveals Himself to her as the Christ she speaks of.  It says at this point the disciples return from town and are surprised to find Jesus talking with a woman. Leaving these men in their awkwardness at the well, along with  her shame and  her jar, she  hurried back to town to tell all the people about this man who had told her about all she had ever done. "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony." John 4:39a

   That woman is me.  Once caught up in trying to fill my deepest desires and longings to feel loved and valued in ways that actually just made me feel dried up and longing even more.  Once, not knowing who I was or what I was created to do. Not knowing my value and worth in the eyes of my Heavenly Father-who created me with such love and purpose. And in that exact spot of filth and shame, busting through all barriers, my Savior waited at the well to see me.  He sat at my well, and of all the virtuous women who also came to that  same well, He chose to ask me for a drink of water. He engaged me.  He filled  my soul with living water.  He met me where I was. He chose to reveal himself to me.  He has given me a reason to run back to the people I know, whether favored by or not, to share His good, pure and lasting Living Water.  That is what I want my life to be. A love response to that sacred invitation at the well.  And again, I too want people to say, " We no  longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."