In1988
I scheduled my first trip to Israel. A
celebration of the state of Israel as a nation for forty years filled the
air. I got all turned around that first
day I arrived in Jerusalem and decided to sit in the park and catch my
breath. I pulled out a map and tried to
figure out the best way to my hotel. The
nicest gentlemen approached me and helped me.
Men in this culture do not even let their eyes fall on a woman let alone
talk to one. The same thing happened a
week later when I checked out of my hotel room!
Being the Sabbath, I didn’t expect the man in the Shabbat elevator with
me to even look at me, yet he was kind and courteous to engage in conversation
as our cage automatically stopped on every floor as we descended to the parking
garage. Upon exiting, he helped me
unload my luggage. Unbelievable! These
two kind men were not religious Jews, I guess.
Refreshing!
I
thought about this memory today when I studied the Samaritan Woman in the
gospel of John. Some say she went to the
well to draw water in the heat of the Noon day so as not to endure the wrath
and criticism of the morning shift of women who worked early while it was
cool. The Samaritan was a loose lady
with a huge wound in her soul. Then she
met Jesus. Why would a Jew talk to a Samaritan? They never did that! Surprise, surprise! I know how she feels.
My
favorite part comes next when she challenges him after he asks for a drink. How are you going to drink from this fresh
spring water well? You don’t even have a
bucket. Jesus goes on with clues. “If only you knew what God can give you. You would ask and I would give you living
water and you would never thirst again.”
Such
a nice way to express “I know that you are not fulfilled in life, but I have a
purpose for you.”
She
challenges further and she asks him if he thinks he’s greater than their
ancestor Jacob who established this well. His reply is the climax of the story.
“Everyone
who drinks this water will be thirsty again.
But the water that I give is living water like a spring flowing inside
of them. It brings eternal life.”
The
woman wants this! I want this! Every
day.
The story goes on and He asks her to bring her husband and she reveals she is not married. He follows up with the brutal truth knowing she has been married five times and the man she lives with now is not her husband. She’s amazed he knows her inside and out and she guesses he’s a prophet.
I’m
not getting that she felt condemned.
Somehow he offered her something so unbelievably glorious much like a
salesman who knows exactly how to read us and offer us the best. Jesus and the woman talked about worship of God and the
expected Messiah and Jesus announces that’s who He is!
The
story goes on and I am reeled into her excitement when she leaves her water pot
and runs into town and persuades a bunch of people as she shouts "Come look. I just met the awaited
Messiah." Pretty soon they all check out for
themselves this Messiah she found and they bear witness. They all got saved.
I,
too, just want to reach into the pages of my Bible and hug Him. Oh, to be so set free like this woman who used
to hide, but now rejoices in the truth, in the middle of the day, no less.
I
wish my aunt could have known Jesus apart from religion. Redemption doesn’t come by doing activities,
it comes in relationship. She suffered a
promiscuous lifestyle, as well, and felt like an outcast. Her shame followed a
long life of misery and, eventually, severe mental illness set in and destroyed
her mind. She was looking for love in
one disposable lover after another, just like the Samaratin woman.
Jesus, the true Messiah, delivers. He saves. He’s the breakthrough of all breakthroughs. He meets the deepest need. In Him, nothing is missing and nothing is broken.
What an uplifting testimony, Mary! I, too, thirst for the Living Water.
ReplyDeleteThank you for blessing my heart and my mind this morning. Love you, lady!
What a timely reminder & testimony for the season of drought, spiritually, in this nation!!! I drink lots of water during hot days but so grateful to not thirst again when He found a lost me in the dry desert! Love & 🙏 continue for u sister!!! God bless & strengthen you always.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post so much this afternoon. I've always loved the Samaritan woman's story. Only our God can quench our thirst. Happy Week to you sweet lady. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
ReplyDeleteHi Mary,
ReplyDeleteThe more I hear the Lord's voice through the Word spoken to me daily, the closer I come to Him and realize that He is with me in all my trials. That Word is a living Word of truth. God bless.
Great story Mary. You are write something that will lift our spirits, thanks.
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