John 4:4-15
" Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered "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."
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater thean our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
Jesus answered "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but 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." "
Who is the Samaritan woman in your life? Obviously this story isn't just about a man talking with a woman but more to the point of Jesus, a Jew, speaking to a Samaritan woman. A woman, AND a Samaritan at that. Jesus speaks with her and offers her "living water". Even though (if you read further you will see) she is an adulterer, a sinner, he tells her the news that he is the Messiah, the Christ that has come to explain everything and save them all.
I know people who won't talk to someone because of their skin color. Or the fact that they may have tattoos or piercings, or the person does things they don't like or agree with. This story shows us that this exclusionary way of thinking and living is wrong. Jesus Christ himself broke these social rules and shows us that the good news of the Gospel is for everyone. Not just for the persons who look and act like we do. How often have we passed up an oprotunity to help someone in need, to be a light unto the world simply because they were different?
Father God be in my heart today as I go into the world. Open my eyes to the needs around me and close them to the hatred and fear that would otherwise hold me back. Help me to be more like your son Christ Jesus, for it is in his Holy name I pray. Amen
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