A Desperate Dad

Posted on by korgrocker

“As he travelled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.“
John 4:46-47 NLT

Jesus finally arrived in Galilee after all the excitement in Sychar in Samaria, and John then records that Jesus “travelled through Galilee”. Why was that? Well, Jesus had an itinerant ministry, that started when He was twelve. We read in Luke 2:49b, ” …  Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Further on in Luke we read why Jesus travelled around. Luke wrote, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10). Such a mission involved teaching about the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, raising the dead and doing many miraculous signs. There was a prophecy in Isaiah 61 about the Messiah’s mission, and Jesus read it out while in the synagogue in Nazareth. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come”” (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus was on a mission and there was no time to lose because He was about His Father’s business.

Jesus’ reputation had preceded Him, and a civil servant needed help with a sick son, who was so ill that his family were afraid he was going to die. A nightmare scenario for any parent, because I know – I’ve been there. My daughter somehow contracted a particular type of encephalitis and spent nearly four months in hospital. The medics could do nothing other than supply nursing care, and it was only God who brought her through to full health some months later. That fact that this happened at all was recorded on her medical notes as “nothing short of a miracle”. In Jesus’ day there was little in the way of medical solutions to illness. People either got better or they died. All their families could do was to supply nursing care. It is only in the last century or so that medicine, with drugs and vaccines, have protected or treated people with otherwise fatal illnesses. 

The father of the sick son came to Jesus in desperation, and we are told that he “begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son”. But, today, is that what we have to do with God? When we have a loved one who is seriously ill, do we get on our knees and beg God to do something? I suppose it depends on our relationship with God. Those who don’t know Him will perhaps, in desperation, try anything as a last resort, and this may have been the situation with the civil servant from Capernaum. Sadly, other people will reject the only One who can heal, and instead blame Him for their situation. But the children of God, those who believe in Jesus and have been forgiven of their sins, don’t have to beg. Our loving Heavenly Father knows what we need, and begging is something we don’t have to do.  Instead, we pray the prayer of faith, trusting that God knows best. And as Jesus taught, we pray and keep on praying.

Dear Heavenly Father, You only have good gifts for Your children and You give them so freely when we ask and pray. We are so grateful. Amen.

The Galilean Welcome

Posted on by korgrocker

“At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee. He himself had said that a prophet is not honoured in his own hometown. Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.”
John 4:43-45 NLT

After a couple of days spent amongst the inhabitants of Sychar in Samaria, Jesus continued with His journey to Galilee. Amazing things had happened in Sychar, and the Samarians were left with the knowledge that they had met with God’s own Son, Jesus, the Messiah they had been waiting for. Perhaps Sychar was an oasis of revival in an otherwise neglected people. 

John wrote that Jesus’ ministry didn’t start very well in Galilee. We can read about that occasion in Matthew 13. John wrote that Jesus ” … returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?”” (Matthew 13:54). But to the people amongst whom Jesus grew up and worked, in His home town of Nazareth, there was a disconnect. The account continues in Matthew, “Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?”” (Matthew 13:55-56). At first sight, it is incredible to think that the miracles Jesus had committed and the words of the Kingdom of God that He had preached, were all rejected just because they had known Him differently. And in Matthew 13:57 we read, “And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honoured everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.”” A really sad state of affairs.

But before we pilgrims take the moral high ground and claim that we would never have behaved in such a way, we should pause and think. Who in the workplace has not resented the promotion of a colleague, thinking that he or she is no better than they are and unworthy of the promotion? Who has had trouble receiving a message from a Christian brother or sister, because they perhaps have known them from another time? Who has become a Christian only to find that their family has rejected them? If Jesus was rejected by His own people, we should expect the same. We read in John 1:10-11, “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him“. We sometimes expect that the deliverer of God’s messages, a prophet, should be someone who has perhaps been raised in God’s presence by a family of angels. But it is so different – Paul wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 1:26-28, “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important“. So we pilgrims should always welcome what a brother or sister, whatever their pedigree, says to us, because for all we know, God may be speaking a message for us just through them.

In our verses from John 4 today, we read that in spite of all the contempt and rejection Jesus had suffered in Nazareth, the Galileans welcomed Him anyway. They had seen the miracles He had committed in Judea, because many of them had journeyed there for the Jewish Feast. When we make that transition from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light, we are transformed. We become a new creation and we have access to all God’s resources. And through His grace and mercy He will use us obedient believers to deliver His message to those around us. That is, if we let Him. And we can expect opposition, particularly if the message is to our families and those who know us. To preach the message of salvation to our friends and family can be difficult, but we must persevere and pray. I know a man who is now a pastor of a church in a deprived area of Glasgow. He planted the church in the same community that he grew up in, and where he became involved with drugs, even becoming a dealer at one point. The police caught up with him eventually and he ended up serving a prison sentence. But in prison he was encouraged by the prison chaplain to consider spending time with Teen Challenge after he was released. But to cut a long story short, he came to know Jesus as his personal Saviour, went to Bible college, married a Christian girl in Dublin, and returned to Glasgow where he is now preaching the Gospel to his friends and family.

But Jesus was welcomed back into Galilee because He had credibility with the people there. They had seen at first hand the powerful miracles, and heard the gracious words about God’s Kingdom. It will take time for us pilgrims to achieve credibility as Christians with our friends and family, but persevere we must. And when they hear our testimonies, perhaps they too will welcome us as children of God.

Dear Heavenly Father. Through Your grace and mercy, we have a story to tell of our wonderful Saviour. Grant us the words to say, we pray, so that we can introduce others to Jesus. Amen.

Sowing and Reaping

Posted on by korgrocker

“You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”
John 4:35-38 NLT

Jesus once again used an analogy that would be well understand in that culture – the process involved in the growing of crops. But Jesus was using a natural analogy to represent the spiritual world, a world where the harvest is not grain but souls.

As Jesus pointed out, there was a delay of four months between sowing seed, and harvesting the resulting crops, and this was a time of anxiety for the farmer, because any adverse weather events could ruin the crops and destroy his livelihood. In extreme times, even famine could result. The farmer also had to withhold some of the seed so that he had something to sow in the ground the following year. In my early years, “Harvest Festivals” were held both in my school and in the local churches. These were times when we brought food items to school or church and sung hymns such as “We plough the fields and scatter, the good seed on the ground”. And all in celebration of the importance of the natural sowing and harvesting process. In those services we thanked God for His blessings, for providing us with the food we required for our very existence. 

Jesus told us the parable of the soils, which we can read in Matthew 13. But the fruit of the process, when good soil was found, was a multiplication of the seed originally planted. In Matthew 13:8 we read, “Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Near where I live, the farmer often plants a field of barley, and sometimes I select an ear of grain and estimate the crop yield. God’s blessings are there for all to see, though we take His multiplying provision for granted most of the time. But Jesus was using the analogy of sowing and reaping to illustrate a spiritual principle to His disciples. He equated the variety of soil conditions with people’s hearts.

Jesus said to His disciples, “wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest“. The “seed” had already been planted in the hearts of the people by others, the prophets and the religious leaders, and Jesus said that the people were ready to hear the message that would produce in them a spiritual harvest. And in the following years, the disciples saw the establishment of the first century church. Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 resulted in 3000 people being added to the church. That is harvesting!

So today, we pilgrims have an opportunity. There is still a spiritual harvest waiting for the reaping. I meet people who know about God, who even recognise and believe in His existence, and who are just waiting for someone to help them bring to life that knowledge and introduce them, perhaps once again, to the Saviour Jesus Christ. But I meet others who have no ideas about God at all. Their spiritual knowledge seems to come from social media and occasional encounters with news reports about other religions. They perhaps wonder about the churches dotted around our country, perhaps seeing more and more of them closing, perhaps having a perception that they are only relevant to elderly people. These are the people who may be good soil, just waiting for a seed to be planted, a seed coming straight out of God’s unlimited storehouses. Once planted, we can see the outcome as the Holy Spirit encourages the growth. Sometimes we may have the opportunity to be harvesters. Sometimes others will have that privilege.

The church I attend meets every Sunday morning in a leisure centre, and often people passing by in the corridor outside will look in, in apparent wonder and puzzlement. They sometimes stop for a few moments, perhaps receiving a seed that will start within them the process of germination. God is always at work.

We pilgrims are engaged in the farming business. Spiritual agriculture is our calling. The church goes through seasons of growth and decline as the years go by. But we are in the thick of it, sowing and reaping whenever we have the opportunity. There are never a lack of opportunities. We just need to pray for boldness and have our messages of hope ready and waiting.

Dear Father God. We pray today for divine encounters, enabling us to plant seeds whenever we have the opportunity. And lead us, we pray, to those who are just waiting for someone to introduce them to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Spiritual Food

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”
John 4:34 NLT

Just a couple of verses before our Scripture today, we read, “But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about”“. The disciples were puzzled, not knowing how Jesus had gained access to bread, meat or some other item of food, because He was in a desolate place, sitting by a well, and talking to a Samaritan woman. So Jesus had to explain what He meant to His disciples, highlighting two sources of spiritual nourishment – doing God’s will and doing His work. As we considered yesterday, there are two kinds of food. One is for feeding our physical bodies so that they remain healthy and nourished. The other is for doing the same for our spirits. Jesus came to this planet as a human being so He needed both kinds of food, just as we do. And just as there are different kinds of physical foods, there are different kinds of spiritual food. Food in all its forms provides a variety of nutrients, and just restricting ourselves to a diet of, for example, burgers and chips, will soon result in malnutrition and the fruit of it will be obesity. In the same way, our spiritual diets consist of many sources of nutrients, all supplied to us from our Heavenly Father. So we pray and read the Bible of course, but there are some practical requirements as well, as Jesus told His disciples. 

Doing God’s will is well documented in the Bible. For example, we read in Psalm 40:8 that it is a source of joy. “I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “may Your will be done”. God’s will is also that we do good; “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:15). And there are many other verses that refer to God’s will. The sweet spot in our relationship with God is when we are doing His will. The knowledge of that will sustain us and support us when the going gets tough, when the obstacles before us seem insurmountable, and when everybody tells us we are out of God’s will for our lives, even when we know, through faith, otherwise.

Jesus also said His nourishment came from doing God’s work. We read in Colossians 3:23, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people“.  A common misconception is that doing God’s work is doing good to, or for, other people. So people assume that volunteering in a soup kitchen providing meals for the homeless is doing God’s work. It may well be, but as Paul wrote to the Colossians, whatever we do can be considered doing God’s work, with the caveat that we must be doing it as though God is our employer. Another common misconception is that our salvation can be assured by doing good works. Paul quashed that thought in Ephesians 2:9-10, “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”. The previous verse, Ephesians 2:8, reads, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God“. Our salvation depends on the grace of God alone, and not on what we do, even if our activity is what would be considered “God’s work”. So we are saved for good works, and not by good works.

So, fellow pilgrims, the next time we enjoy a physical meal, perhaps we should also consider a spiritual meal. There is nothing like a balanced diet to keep us fit and healthy.

Dear Father God. You fed Your people with manna in the wilderness, but today You feed us through Your Son, Jesus, and the power of Your Spirit. We are so grateful. Amen.

A Kind of Food

Posted on by korgrocker

“Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other.”
John 4:31-33 NLT

The disciples must have returned from their visit to Sychar with a supply of food, and they urged Jesus to eat some of it. But they were confused by Jesus’ response, with their minds still focussed on their bread and anything else they were able to acquire. Physical food was of course very necessary, even to Jesus in those days, so the disciples even wondered if someone else, perhaps even the Samaritan woman, had brought Him food while they were away. So, what was this “food” that Jesus had consumed?

It goes without saying that physical food is necessary to nourish our physical bodies, and spiritual food is necessary for our spiritual bodies. But most people in our societies major on the first, and neglect the second. They end up fat and bloated after overeating all the wrong types of physical foods, but their spirits are shrivelled up and in danger of dying from a lack of spiritual food. The death of their spirits can result in people suffering all kinds of physical and mental disease, with physical remedies being sought to fix a spiritual problem. 

When He was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus replied on one occasion, “But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” (Matthew 4:4, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3). So Jesus equated the physical food of bread with the spiritual food of the Word of God. In 1 Peter 2:2 we read, “Like new born babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment”. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:2, “I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready“. 

So the food Jesus received, while the disciples were away in the village of Sychar, was obtained through prayer with His Father in Heaven. He remembered the Scriptures in which He had been grounded in His early years. And He received all the sustenance He needed, and more, in preparation for what was to come when he met the people of Sychar. 

So, fellow pilgrims, how are our spirits today? Shrivelled and almost dead, or bursting with life and vigour? God said through the prophet Isaiah, “”Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food” (Isaiah 55:1-2). That invitation written down all those years ago is still valid today. In fact with our modern technologies, we have access to the Word of God far beyond what anyone could imagine in Isaiah’s day. Let’s not waste the opportunity to feed our spirits, our very souls.

Dear Father God. You fed Your people physical food in the wilderness and You still feed Your people with spiritual food today. We are so grateful. Amen.

Come and See

Posted on by korgrocker

“The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.”
John 4:28-30 NLT

Something remarkable suddenly happened after the disciples returned from their quest for finding their lunch. The Samaritan woman left her water pot by the well and rushed off in the direction of the village, which was about a kilometre away. Water pots were valuable items so to leave one behind was practically unheard of. And then she ran, we are told in John’s account. No-one ran in that climate, at least in the middle of the day. But it was the message that made an impression on the village of Sychar. Why should anyone have taken any notice of her, particularly in view of her reputation? But because of her message, which must have been totally out of character, those people who were available “came streaming from the village to see” Jesus.

It is a sad reflection on the society in which we live, that if I rushed out into the street where I live and started to shout out a message of what Jesus had done for me, then the most likely outcome would be that the police would be called and I was subsequently cautioned for disturbing the peace! There may even have followed some form of encouragement to go and see a doctor or psychiatrist. But in 1st Century Samaria, there was a significant response to what the woman had to say. People there responded to the message.

So in 21st Century society a different way of communicating excitement about Jesus has to be found. But how do we pilgrims connect with this cynical and sceptical generation? The people around us mostly consider that they are too sophisticated or intelligent to believe in this Jesus. Their minds have been corrupted by science and technology to believe lies. The people have become hardened against hearing the whisper of the Holy Spirit. The people’s consciences don’t work in the way they should anymore. Instead, false religions are springing up to deliver the words that they want to hear rather than the message they need to respond to. False religions that deny the existence of God and replace Him  with their man-made ideologies and idols. But Peter warned believers about this, in 2 Peter 4:3-4, ”For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.“

We pilgrims pray for this generation, and keep on praying. And our prayers reverberate around Heavenly places right to our Father’s throne. We pray for hearts to be softened, and for the Holy Spirit to cut through all the lies and deception that prevail. We lift up our friends and family into God’s presence with our prayers, believing for miracles of conversion, believing that God can change hearts of stone into hearts of flesh once again. “Come and see” is the message we proclaim, because Jesus brought healing and salvation to us believers. But when those around us look at us, what do they see? Is it worth coming for? Are we closet Christians who are hunkered down waiting for the time when we cross the Great Divide into God’s presence? Or have we left our “water pots”, things that are precious and even necessary in this life, to cry out “Come and see”. Only Jesus has anything worth saying in this life, and we pilgrims are the only ones who can encourage those around us to join us in His presence.

Dear Father God. In a generation that is inventing its own religions, we know that there is only one way to You. Please help us reach those who are desperately searching for the truth, but are looking in all the wrong places. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Change the Subject

Posted on by korgrocker

““I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?””
John 4:17-20 NLT

The conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman turned from talking about water to a prophetic word of knowledge from Jesus about the woman’s marital experiences. To have five failed marriage behind her and now a less formal relationship with number six, was remarkable and presumably uncomfortable and embarrassing for the woman. So she hurriedly moved the conversation on again, this time to introduce what was probably a contentious situation between the Jews and Samaritans over worship and where it could legitimately take place. 

The Jews of course focused their worship on the Temple in Jerusalem, but there was also much history behind Mount Gerizim. We read in Deuteronomy 27 how Moses instructed half of the Israelite tribes to stand on Mount Gerizim, with the other half standing on the other mountain across the valley, Mount Ebal. We read in Deuteronomy 27:11-13, “That same day Moses also gave this charge to the people: “When you cross the Jordan River, the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin must stand on Mount Gerizim to proclaim a blessing over the people. And the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali must stand on Mount Ebal to proclaim a curse”. Gerizim became known as the Mount of Blessing, and the Samaritans built a temple there.

So the Jews and Samaritans sadly found something else to argue about, and the Samaritan woman used the conflict  to try and regain the initiative in the conversation with Jesus. She wasn’t sure what was coming in the debate about husbands so finding safer territory about something less personal became important. This is a technique found in conversations in society today, and publicly many politicians have honed this diversionary tactic to perfection. So often a question is asked and the answer seems to be totally unrelated and unexpected. Attempts to refocus the question generally fail.

So how do we pilgrims converse with others, particularly in a society which is becoming less tolerant of “free speech” and wishes to promote ideologies at variance with Biblical beliefs? Two words regularly crop up in Scriptures – honesty and integrity. Using evasive methods to avoid answering questions brings us, perhaps, to Proverbs 12:22, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight“. Once again, in a world of change, with a society becoming more and more secular, with the rejection of God and His Book, the Bible, it is good to delve into the Scriptures that have stood the test of time and are as true today as when they were written. So we pilgrims pursue honesty and integrity, speaking truths on every occasion. There is no other way.

Dear Father God. Your Son Jesus said He was “the way, the truth and the life”. So there is no better way than to follow Him all the days of our lives. Amen.

Get Your Husband

Posted on by korgrocker

““Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!””
John 4:16-18 NLT

The woman at the well seemed to have a problem with men. To be in the sixth relationship is going some, even by modern standards. The fact that she came to draw water on her own probably indicated that the other women in the village wanted nothing to do with her. For all we know, she had a local reputation for being a bit of a marriage wrecker. But how did Jesus know about her private life? It wouldn’t have been posted on the local Facebook page, or mentioned in a flyer pinned to the wall above the well. We can try and make sense of why she was so active in husband recycling, and presumably psychiatrists would have a selection of answers to her problem, but none of this matters very much. What does matter is that Jesus grabbed her attention and lifted her thoughts out of the drudgery of drawing water and forced her to consider her situation.

Jesus, of course, was in constant communication with His Father. We read in John 5:19-20, “So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished“. So communicating with His father through the power of the Spirit, Jesus would have known who the woman at the well really was. He saw right into her very soul and put His finger on the main issue driving, and destroying, her life. And by doing so He laid the foundation for a revival that was soon to happen in that Samaritan village. An uncomfortable and embarrassing experience for the woman led to her life, and the lives of others, being transformed.

We pilgrims also have access to situations where, through the Holy Spirit, a prophetic word, a word of knowledge, can expose the truth and transform the life of a sinner. We have a “still small voice” within us that we need to listen carefully to. It needs practice to hear it, but the Holy Spirit within us constantly speaks. A question we must often ask is, “What do You want me to know about this person, or say to them, Lord?” We pray for that insight that will unlock an otherwise lifeless conversation. And at the start of a day we pray for divine encounters, or opportunities to share the Good News with those around us, with people trapped in hopeless situations like the woman at the well. 

Dear Father God. We pray today for a fresh infilling of Your Spirit, revitalising us and equipping us for the day ahead. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Living Water (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.””
John 4:13-15 NLT

In John 4:10 we read, “Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”” Tantalisingly and perceptively, Jesus had put His finger on an important, if not the most important, aspect of the woman’s life. Drawing water was a daily and menial task for women in those days and it was an unceasing demand that could not be avoided. But Jesus seemed to be offering the woman a way out of her drudgery. All the woman could focus on was the water lying at the bottom of Jacob’s well, but Jesus had something better for her. The “living water” Jesus was talking about was the Holy Spirit – He could not remove the harsh and repetitive demands of fetching water from the woman’s daily schedule, but He could give her something meaningful in her life instead. Sadly, even by this stage in the conversation, the woman could still not see beyond water pots, wells, ropes and the water she and her dependents needed for their natural lives.

As we fast forward to 21st Century Planet Earth, we notice that in certain parts of the world, water supplies are extremely vulnerable. In fact, it has been calculated that over half the world’s population (4 billion people) suffer some form of water stress for at least one month every year. Even here in the UK, climate change has brought times of drought leading to water shortages, stunted crops, and hosepipe bans. It was no different in the Western Mediterranean countries in Biblical times – the scarcity of water was a constant concern for the people who were growing crops and tending livestock. 

But Jesus was concerned about His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God. In His Kingdom, then as now, spiritual water was and is an essential commodity, and there is no limit to the life-giving Spirit that is accessible to all. There are no hosepipe bans in Heaven! However, there is one essential caveat. In John 7:38 Jesus said, “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” No-one can drink the Heavenly water unless they embrace, and believe in, the Saviour, Jesus Himself. The word “believe” implies an intimate trust and faith in the God-Man Jesus, and a personal relationship with Him that will never die. It is so sad, though, that many believers fail to drink deeply of the life-giving spiritual water so freely available to them, preferring instead to soldier on in their own strength. We need to drink Jesus’ living water every day. Sometimes several times during the day. Just as physical water needs replenishing in our physical bodies, so does the spiritual water in our souls. 

So today, right now even, let us open up our hearts and ask the Saviour to fill us anew. And “Rivers of living water” will flow, and flow, and flow. Until we are overflowing. We may still have to do the menial equivalent of going to draw water, but we will do it with joy and gratitude, full of the Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord Jesus. We do believe in You. Please fill us afresh with Your Living Water again today. Amen.

Please Give Me A Drink

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.”
John 4:6-8 NLT

So, we have a well, Jesus, tired from the journey and sitting by it, and a Samaritan woman coming out to get some water. Nothing remarkable about any of that, until we realise that Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink. And worse, there was only the two of them at the well that hot day. In those days Jews didn’t even talk to Samaritans, trying their best to avoid any sort of contact with them. And then there was the social etiquette of a man talking to a woman not known to him, something else forbidden in that rather misogynistic culture. But why was a woman coming out to draw water from the well in the middle of the day anyway. This task was normally reserved for the cooler times in the day, with groups of women coming out together. A simple scene but one that to an onlooker would have seemed a bit strange. 

Jesus was obviously tired and thirsty and asked for a drink. We of course remember the first temptation that Jesus endured while He was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. The devil knew that he had the power to turn stones into bread and this would have applied to water to drink as well. But Jesus replied with a quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3b, “ ….  people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord“. ‭‭So without a doubt Jesus didn’t need to ask for a drink. He could have spoken the word and a jug of water, cool and refreshing, could have immediately appeared before Him.

I wonder what the Samaritan woman was thinking. As she walked out of the village, she could see this figure, obviously a Jew, sitting by the well. Would she have been feeling rather unsure and even vulnerable? After all, there was no-one else present. What was He sitting there for? Was He waiting for someone? All sorts of thoughts would have been going through her mind. And then there was that question, polite and to the point, “Please give me a drink”. That was the question that started a remarkable conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, that culminated in a revival bursting out in the village of Sychar.

We pilgrims often come upon other people not known to us. In the supermarket. At the bus stop. In the work place. But for all we know, God has a message for them, something tailor-made just for them at this point in their lives, and He wants us to provide it. Often there is a bridge over which a conversation can be started. I recently spoke with a lady who was walking a dog along a woodland path. The dog was an unusual breed, so I asked her about it, and where it had come from. There then followed a tragic tale of an estranged son who had died on his own and prematurely in his early thirties from a congenital heart problem, and all she had to remind her of him was his dog. I believe God brought about that meeting that day because I was able to encourage her with a few words of comfort.

But none of us know what is around the corner. Are we heading for a well and water experience today? Is there someone God wants us to encourage? It may not be with a Gospel message but it could be with a cheery response, or a listening ear. The Holy Spirit will guide us in God’s ways and plans if we are open enough to hear His voice.

Dear Father God. You have plans for each one of us and often You ask us to share Your love for them. We commit to hearing Your voice today and every day. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen.