“… Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 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 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.” “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 than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “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.” Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.””
John 4:1-12, 14-18, 20-26 NIV
Whew, that was a long passage. If you stuck through it, I am glad!
In a very transparent way, I would like to tell you that lately, for the first time in a long time, my well is running a little low as of late.
For a strand of months, I have been fighting sleepiness, apathy, and distraction in my morning time devotions. My intentions do not equal my actions, and before I know it, my
6 am wake-up has unfolded to 7:15, and I am scrambling to get a shower, no closer to the Savior than I was the day before.
We are busy, yes. But no more than in previous school years. I cannot say for sure why I am currently experiencing a dry season in my walk with Jesus, but I am living in a haze of sorts these days. I am ok. I will get back on track for certain. But in this season, I find that my greatest enemy is prayerlessness. It’s not a habit I recommend. I can’t afford not to pray for those I love.
When the spiritual well is low, I can say for myself, my peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22) are all suffering, too. And I can imagine the same was true for the Samaritan woman at the well. After a lifetime of chasing men, she was no closer to the Savior than yesterday either. Likely, she was bearing none of those fruits.
What’s interesting to note is that Jesus, fully God, fully man, did not NEED her to dip in the well for him. He could have managed to quench his thirst in any way He desired.
On the contrary, SHE needed Him to to be there. She was the one living in a desert season (or desert life, for that matter). She was absolutely parched spiritually, and all she needed was to sit with Him that day... to linger with him and bask in His presence and be FILLED to live a life that honors Him.
That’s exactly what Jesus calls us to do today. If our device or our bed pillow has replaced the time we simply sit with our Savior, our wells will evaporate. We will walk around parched, desperately needing to be filled. No amount of Prime deals or social media will FILL us.
For the days that accumulate between my morning prayer and devotional routine, my heart has hardened to God’s word and His Spirit…. Make no mistake— His Spirit has not left me, but my senses are dulled, I am elusive, and my intentions grow lax.
If anything, I pray that I can live a life of intention. ——-
Intentional in learning from God’s Word.
Intentional about loving others I come across in my day.
Intentional in parenting to bestow the best of Godly wisdom to our children.
Today and every day, may you and I both stop and be with Jesus at the well. Let us rest, renew, and be filled with Living Water!
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2
Photo by Frank Albrecht on Unsplash
