Well, we're at the end of the 50 Days study. Homegroups will be finishing up the study this week, the sermon series has been tucked away to be used at an unforeseen time in the future, and this is the final blog post.
The story I'm sitting with today is the story of the woman at the well. It's found in John 4, and the spine of my bible is well-worn in that spot...Jesus has used that woman to teach me quite a bit.
I'm sure you're familiar with the story, Jesus and the disciples are traveling through Samaria and he meets up with a woman getting water all by herself in the middle of the day. Jesus is tired and he asks the woman for water. She replies stating their status immediately (as a Jew he wouldn't have spoken to a Samaritan woman) and then she says, "How can you ask me for a drink?"
Jesus tells her, "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." (John 4: 10)
The woman and Jesus go back and forth...she's talking about the well they are standing at...it's a well Jacob himself dug, and Jesus is trying to get her to understand the concept of living water. Eventually she agrees and asks Jesus for water.
His reply is immediate and a little odd: "Go call your husband and come back."
She says, "I don't have a husband."
Jesus essentially replies to her and agrees; he tells her how she's had five husbands and how she's currently living with a guy. (a big no-no)
She tells him he's a prophet...and Jesus continues to reveal himself to her, and eventually tells her that He is the Messiah.
The woman leaves and gets everyone in the village, telling them to meet the Messiah, the man who knew everything she ever did. So, the people of the village come and meet Jesus...and they ask him to stay with them, deciding not to just believe the woman's testimony, but to know for themselves.
Jesus grants their request and stays with them for two days. The last passage of this particular story is from the villagers saying, "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." (John 4:42)
So, what's the point of going over this story?
Jesus met one woman at a well, and changed her entire life. He met a whole village at that same well and changed many of their lives too. The well in the village was a permanent fixture in their lives. I can't help but think how many of them (the woman in particular) would have returned to that well, day after day, and remembered meeting Jesus in that spot.
Can you imagine meeting Jesus?
Meeting the Savior of the world in such a mundane place...in such a basic way? Jesus took something all of us need, water, and used it as a metaphor for his ability to be the place of refreshment and life.
Has Jesus used this 50 Days series in your life? Did He meet you in this little devotional and reveal himself to you? Did you learn more about His heart, how to worship Him, how to have faith in Him, how to have strength through Him?
Did He meet you at the well? Did He show you how He can be living water?
Will you look at this book and remember what He did? Remember what He taught you?
I'm always thinking of "wells" in my life...some people call them spiritual markers...but I like to call them wells. It's a place where I can remember where Jesus taught me something, and a place where I can return to get His living water and truth.
Was the 50 Days series a "well" for you?
Share if you would...and the next blog will be on Crazy Love, good stuff!
H :)
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