I am studying John's account of the Samaritan Woman (John 4 1-42). I was overwhelmed at some of the insights gleaned last night while reading. I wanted to share some of these with you and would LOVE to hear your thoughts!
I'm reading from Anne Graham Lotz's book, Just Give Me Jesus. Her teaching has shown me some things in the Bible that I sorta overlooked. I simply didn't read beyond the words to the deeper meaning. I tend to do that!! Yes, confession time! One of these was the fact that the Samaritan woman was dissatisfied spiritually because she didn't know the TRUTH. You see, the Samaritans worshiped the true God, but...the Samaritan Bible only contained the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch contained only the first five books of the Old Testament. That's all this Samaritan woman knew!
But first, take a look at her. She was a woman without any girlfriends! She had no Kelly's or Lee's or Wendy's to go to the well with early in the morning. She missed out on chit chatting with the other women in town. She didn't know who had gotten married or had babies or had redecorated their homes...no one would talk to her. Bless her heart! She had been through five husbands and was living with a man now that she was not married to. Can you imagine what she went through each time she had to go out in public --whether to draw water or to get food from the market? All alone and knowing that others were pointing fingers at her? And now, she's met a Jewish Rabbi who is actually talking to her! Her little world has been shaken up today!
After Jesus asked her for some water from Jacob's well, conversation ensued. Can you imagine what was going on in her head? When Jesus told her about the "living water," her heart must have leaped for joy! Not ever having to draw water again because she would never be thirsty again! She asked him for some of this water. Jesus told her that the water He gave would "...become a spring of water welling up to eternal life." All she had to do was to confess her sins and be forgiven. Y'all, she was so excited...she heard the TRUTH from the ONE and ONLY, the Messiah himself! Never before had she experienced so much joy! She had been set free to have everlasting life. She is one of those that I can't wait to talk to when I go to Heaven! She was no longer spiritually dissatisfied.
OK, what keeps us from being satisfied spiritually? Think about this one. For me, it's setting aside time to spend in God's Word each day? BUT... I don't always process what the scriptures say. I am a speed reader, and in college, that was great! But now, I need to slow it down in order to hear every little thing that Jesus wants me to know. I don't want to be thirsty again.
Blessings!
14 comments:
I don't ever want to be thirsty again either. I'm so thankful that while man has shunned me, God never has nor will He ever.
I'm going to be standing in line, in heaven, to visit with the Samaritan woman as well, her testimony gives so many of us hope, because of Christ's action towards her...He gave her LIFE. He gave me LIFE.
Love,
Yolanda
PS: My first entry had errors, so I deleted.
Can you imagine her fear when Jesus said "you are right, you aren't married,but...." Wow, he knew her! And he still talked to her, and not only that but offered her living water! I love the line when she is sharing, "He told me everything I ever did." Many Samaritans believed becasue of her testimony. Amen!
Like you, there are so many things to this story that I'd never considered in previous readings. I studied it a while back, and one of the things that means the most to me about this story is ...
relationship. The fact that Jesus made a decision to "go through" Samaria (Scripture says he "had to").
For one purpose, I think.
Relationship.
We see it in his question to the woman "Will you give me a drink?" He could have done it himself, but in asking for her participation, not only was he allowing her the opportunity for involvement he was opening up a door of refreshment for himself (not of the watering kind, but of the people kind). I think we forget that Jesus hungered for relationship also.
Anyway, enough for now. I think I'll go back and re-read this tonight and have a spot of relationship myself with my Jesus. I sure could use it.
Funeral tomorrow. I've been asked to sing. Pray for my strength and voice enough to benedict my friend's life.
peace~elaine
Susan, I have to read slowly too! Sometimes over and over again while I am asking God to show me what the Scripture is really saying! Revelation comes as we meditate and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us. I loved what you wrote here. It really ministered to me.
Christy
Great post Susan. And, I totally agree... setting aside time for the Lord and His Word to us. Absolutely key!
I came by to congratulate you on the purchase of your new camera. I'm looking forward to photos!
Also congratulations on your 100th post!
Hi, sweet Susan.
I love your honest and humble posts. They make me smile. :)
For me, one of my things I have to watch out for is that I am not too busy trying to satisfy my thirst other places. If my heart is already full of lots of other "drinks", my thirst for Him isn't what it should be.
Hope you are having a fabulous summer!
Love,
K :)
Great post. I had never thought of her in this way, without the girlfriends and such.
I am like you and I'm a speed reader not taking the time to digust and dig further. I at times, try to read all the foot notes in my Bible when I read a passage so it will call me to think deeper of the context. However, the speed thing causes me to pick and choose and not read all of them.
PS, no thanks to Dasani or Aquafina.
Thank you for sharing so honestly. This is so true of me as well. I tend to read too quickly and often miss something important...like the meaning altogether! Take care.
Susan:
I'm so excited!!! Your post gave me the answer from the LORD for the title of my new journal that starts tomorrow!! Just this morning I asked the LORD what the title of my new one would be because I am writing in the last few pages of the current one today. I picked up the new one that I will be writing in and looked at it for a while. It is a Woman of Faith journal with a few scriptures in it, but the word I had written down from HIM early this morning was WELLSPRING. He always gives me my journal titles and I wrote about 6 different possibilities - but today your post helped me narrow it down. I will keep asking HIM and when tomorrow comes - He will confirm the one HE desires it to be. My current one has been called:
THE GOOD SOIL = Taking Root
so.........
WELLSPRING...........
will follow suite.
Great post!! I love the way Jesus treated this woman [and me]. He never embarrasses her - never calls her out - simply states the facts and waits for her response. She didn't get it - not until til took that drink of Living Water He offered! Then......the wellspring... overflowed.... and a whole town was saved because she was bursting with the TRUTH He had given her! All through a drink of water!
Choosing JOY, Stephanie
[JESUS - The One I Worship]
You are so right about slowing down to take in what Jesus wants to say to us. Sometimes I find myself hurrying through my quiet time, only to find I am having a hard time remembering what I just read. That is probably why we are reminded to BE Still! Great post! Jackie
I just wrote about discontentment on my blog last night.
I think there are so many things that keep us from feeling spiritually dissatisfied -- our emotions, history, will, thoughts, feelings, intellect. For me just setting aside the time isn't enough, it's setting aside the clutter in my mind and heart that get in the way of truly hearing God and receiving His grace.
I pray for the living water satisfies my soul.
Hey...good luck with the Ziti tonight and with Divisionals. Our swim team is a few weeks behind yours (and we're hoping not to come in last place). It's still fun, though.
Enjoy the day, my friend,
Kelli
Great post Susan. I love what Elaine wrote. Jesus "had to" go that way...had to not because it was a direct route, it was out of His way geographically, but had to because of desire and need to meet at the well.
I love a quote from Tozer that says, "I thirst to be made more thirsty still." Oswald Chambers writes, "The Lord longs for our companionship. He waits for us to meet Him in the inner chambers of our hearts. Lets not keep Him waiting there alone. Again the loneliness of our Lord comes to me more and more. How few of us are concerned about satisfying His heart. How I hear Him saying, I thirst, Give Me to drink. May my Lord never let me grow cold in my longing to be a cup in His hand for the quenching of His own royal thirst."
Blessings my friend,
Joy
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