The Woman Who Forgot What She Came For
“Jesus: You don’t know the gift of God or who is asking you for a drink of this water from Jacob’s well. Because if you did, you would have asked Him for something greater; and He would have given you the living water.”
John 4:10 (VOICE)
‘I want…’ requests of God have a long history and we have all probably added to the volume of incense that has risen over millennia when we natter on to our heavenly Father about the necessity of us having this or that and would he provide it please, um, soon. We are concerned about things of the Spirit, but right now it’s a sort of Father Christmas god we are hoping for, who we think will give us the physical goodies we want or the stuff we think we need.
Nothing new—remember the Samaritan woman who came out to draw water from the town well where Jesus was sitting on his own while his disciples went into town to buy food? He asked her for water, drawing the astonished woman into a conversation which led on to him offering her living water. The woman was puzzled: it’s a deep well and Jesus hasn’t got a bucket. “‘Those who drink this water will get thirsty again,’ Jesus replies, ‘but those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give them will become in them a spring which will provide them with life-giving water and give them eternal life.’ ‘Sir,’ the woman says, ‘give me that water!’”, or more likely: ‘SIR, GIVE ME THAT WATER!’ (John 4:5-15 GNT)
Her day had come: the daily grind of hauling water would be over. She thought she was being offered a ‘must have’ that nobody had even dreamt about; something like a donkey, or an ox, or a new cart or just a new wheel for the old cart – that’s what would be on most people’s wish list.
But by the end of the conversation the woman had forgotten why she’d come to the well and, overwhelmed by the knowledge that Jesus seemed to know all about her, had abandoned her water pot and had run back to town to tell everyone. The result was that two days later when Jesus departed, he left behind a group of townsfolk who believed that they had met the Saviour of the world. (John 4:28-41)
Jesus didn’t come to solve our water supply problems. That’s what God gave us minds with intelligence for. He came to restore us to God, who happily uses these preoccupations we have with our personal desires to bring us closer to him so that he can give us the truly great and lasting things he has to offer. He’s a master at it – and although he doesn’t need it, he gets a lot of practice.
Prayer
Our grateful thanks fly up to you, Father of love, as your mercy is renewed each morning and you draw us to you through whatever is on our minds.
Amen
Study by Hilary Buck
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About the Author:
Hilary Buck pastors Grace Communion in Lewes.
Local Congregation:
Grace Communion – Lewes
The Priory School
Mountfield Road
LEWES
BN7 2XN
Meeting Time:
Saturday 11:00am L
ocal Congregational Contact:
Hilary Buck
Email: hilaryjbuck@gmail.com