Thirsty...

As always seems to be the case, I have been chewing on something recently; John 4. I’m sure you know the story. Jesus and the disciples have been traveling and they come to the city of Sychar. Jesus, tired from the journey, slumps down against the well for a rest while the disciples go into town to gather some food. A Samaritan woman, busy I’m sure at the noon hour of the day, comes to draw water, a seemingly everyday task for her. As she comes near, Jesus asks her for a drink. Caught off guard the woman reminds Jesus that He is a Jew and she is a Samaritan, so she questions His asking for a drink. Jesus then goes on to tell her that if she knew who He really was she would ask for the living water. She looks, doesn’t see any well-drawing equipment that He has with, and asks how it is He is going to get this living water since the well is deep and He has nothing with which to draw. Jesus then continues in His poetic picture and speaks boldly that those who drink of well water will thirst again but those who drink of the living water will never thirst and will in fact have a living spring that erupts into salvation. Intrigued and convinced, the woman asks for this living water so she won’t have to keep coming and drawing this well water. A bold confrontation is then made as Jesus tells her to bring her husband and come back. She admits she does not have a husband. And then Jesus follows up with her relational status of having had 5 husbands but the man she was with at the moment was not her husband. She perceives He is a prophet, but then begins to speak of the Messiah Jesus Christ who is coming and will explain all things. And then Jesus says one statement that changes everything: “I who speak to you am he.”


I’m finding myself in the shoes of the woman, perhaps I should say sandals. I’m finding myself in the middle of mundane life events, most of which I like but some which I loathe. And I find myself being asked things with which I cannot comply, either based out of lack of faith, disobedience, or just personal comfort zones. I begin to squirm uncomfortably in my chair as I face this resistance between a higher calling and a lower level of reality as I live. I ask what a holy God would want with a wretched sinner such as I. And then He speaks, the One. He persists with a fiery passion that I’ve never known before. I am looking for one thing, He offers another. I then cave in desperation thinking that I just might be aligned with this One and His offer. Again, I missed the point. It’s not a matter of water, it’s a matter of life. I sheepishly grin as I step back and am reminded of how little I actually know. He stares into the depths of my being with His eyes that burn like fire, and begins to outline the details of my life, the dark and ugly ones that nobody is supposed to know. And then in that little soft part of my heart that has not been hardened by the muck and mire of the world, I begin to think that He is someone. Oh yes, I know of the Messiah that is coming and knows all. And then I am stopped. He says one thing that radically shifts something within my broken being: “I who speak to you am He.”

Of course we know the rest of the story. The woman goes back to town sharing the divine encounter she has had at the well and the people of the town come back to the well with her to see who this One is. They find the One who sits against the well is the Messiah, the One who knows all and supersedes all. They urge Him to stay with them and so He stays 2 days and many come to salvation in that city. The living water had indeed been poured out over many souls that day, and it all started with a request for a cup of water.

There is something about a life completely surrendered to the Messiah that brings about great change. There’s something so freeing about letting go of what you so tightly grip in exchange for what the Messiah wants to give you. There is something so humbling about staring into the very face of the One who knows the deepest and darkest things about you. There is something so crazy about the call of grace that beckons more loudly over the voice of the enemy who thinks he has defeated you. There is something so refreshing about this living water that washes over every broken soul and cleanses it, even though I am undeserving. There is something so marvelous about waiting for the One you have longed for, only to realize He is the One with which you speak.

Oh that I would yield and surrender myself to this One. The simplicity of just receiving all that He is and all the He offers. Who am I to think that what I have is better? This is Jesus the Messiah, the One who meets us where we are. The only One who can offer salvation and the living water, the only One whose blood covers all and overcomes all. Jesus forgive me for arguing with you at my well. I am so foolish and stubborn that your persistent beckoning and radical grace I will never comprehend. Holy Spirit help me to just yield. I long for all of you, let me see you right in front of me. This is reality. I don’t want to keep coming here trying to draw this water. You truly are all that I need and desire. Thank you for meeting me right where I am, but loving me enough to leave me in this place…