She was a woman who perhaps lacked hope and sought true
love & abundant life in all the wrong places. Before she met Jesus she hid
from others, coming to the well at the hottest part of the day, surely weighed
down with guilt and shame. After the scales come off her eyes and she discovers
who Jesus is, she is CHANGED. No
longer is her story one of guilt and shame. She gladly goes back to her hometown
and instead of avoiding people like before she proclaims her story of meeting the
Saviour of the world. For the past two days I’ve been hearing this song in the
background as I meditate on the story. This is the Samaritan woman’s story. It
can be our story too:
If I told you my
story
You would hear Hope that wouldn't let go
And if I told you
my story
You would hear Love that never gave up
And if I told you
my story
You would hear Life, but it wasn't mine
If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy
wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him
The trajectory of her life had changed forever by ONE
encounter with Jesus. How glorious is that?
This story helps my heart to see how Jesus engages those
who are far from Him. He is not condemning.
I feel like many inside and outside of the church need to hear this. He cares for the person. He invites us to a different life. A better
life. The doors are open. The ball is in our court. We may respond to the
invitation or we may reject it. It is our rejection of the invitation that brings
condemnation – but Jesus’ heart is that everyone
know the beauty of this abundant life in Him.
I can tell you from my own experience, there is nothing
better than this life with Christ. There is nothing more satisfying than
knowing the God of the Universe. I have never felt more alive than when I am
worshipping the King of all creation. HE is EVERYTHING. I want everyone to
taste this! The Word says
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!” Psalm 34:8
Do you hear how emphatic the psalmist is? He wants us to
not just know in our heads, but to experience the Goodness of God in our
hearts. Let us not just know about God, let us know God.
But relationship with the Lord is not the only thing that
is satisfying. Do you know what else is nourishing?
Doing the will of
God.
The disciples arrive back from buying food in town. They
are worried about Jesus. He’s got to be famished! Jesus refuses their food
saying that “[He] has food to eat that they do not know about” John 4:32. His ‘food’,
his nourishment, his sustenance comes from doing the will of God.
“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to
accomplish his work.” John 4:34
He then goes on to talk about
the harvest. There is work to do. The fields are ripe for harvest! Let us not
delay the work of sharing the gospel to those in our path. The fields are ripe. By prioritizing the harvest, Jesus
is able to see MANY people come to believe in Him and be delivered from the
Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of Light.
Do we want to find that which
truly satisfies? Do we want lives that matter? Our reading for today gives us
two glorious answers to fulfilling these things: 1. Get
to really know Jesus. 2. Make your ‘food’
the will of God. He has a purpose for your life and it is magnificent. Will you
join Him on His mission?
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