Just recently I was doing some shopping with my wife and she asked me to buy some toothpaste. You would think that would be a relatively easy thing to do...but not so. There were so many choices - whitening, flouride, sensitive teeth, gel, paste - I couldn't make up my mind. The thing is, we live in a world full of choices and sometimes they seem endless.
Bookstores are the same way, even with religions. Barnes & Nobles, along with most bookstores, have a whole section on all kinds of religions including witchcraft and the Book of Mormon. All this variety reflects spiritual hunger in a buffet of choices.
Yesterday we had Jesus discussing living water with a woman at a well. She thought Jesus was talking about physical water. At this point in the conversation, Jesus begins to probe into the woman's life at a deeper level. He says, "Go, call your husband and come back." (John 4:16) Now, you might wonder why He said this. Jesus already knows what she's going to say, but He also knows what she needs and He wants to help. Her response reveals just how deep that need goes.
"I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say 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." (John 4:17-18)
Do you think she's trying to avoid Jesus' request request by saying she has no husband? Or is she just being honest? It was true she didn't have a husband. Jewish custom limited marriage to three tries before one became utterly suspect in the culture. Living with someone other than your spouse made you ceremoniously unclean and one to be avoided. Jesus ignores these cultural and religious standards and commends her honesty. It must have been strange for her to go draw water in the middle of the day, hoping to avoid human contact, and then bump into someone she had never met, but who knows her past, someone who knows her story.
The truth is, Jesus knows all of our stories. He knows our deepest secrets and our worst faults. But like this woman, Jesus see beyond the sin in us and stretches out His hand of love to offer us a whole new way of living.
The challenge for the woman at the well is the same challenge that all of us face - to go beyond our opinions of Jesus and make the choice to follow Him. Remember Jesus' words, "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." (John 4:14) Jesus' offer is clear and the choice is yours.
Question to Consider: To what degree have you accepted the love of God offered to you in the form of Jesus Christ?
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I would like to say or hope that we all as Christ followers receive that love and let it flow through us in our actions and words to others. But all to often we let ourselves get caught up in our own issues and forget to love others as Christ loves us. I heard a recent Rob Bell message where he refered to Paul beginning every book he wrote with "grace and peace" in one form or another. If we could just remember that before we spoke ill of or to someone how would that affect what you said? Grace and peace to you.
Thinking about the woman at the well. She didn't know exactly what Jesus could give her, but she didn't run away from Him or ignore Him. Right in the middle of her human failings she stayed in the presence of Jesus. I think that is what we need to do also. I fail some times, but I can't go hide from Jesus or ignore Him. Even in the middle of my human failings I need to stay in the presence of Jesus. It is the only place worth being. Thanks, David
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