Welcome to Wednesday! It’s good to be together as we continue our work, as we “Come to the Well”.
This week our guiding Scriptures have been John 4:3-15 and John 7:37-39. Jesus is offering the promise of “Living Water”. He is witnessing the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit upon our human spirits in ways we receive deep refreshment, renewal, and restoration.
On Wednesdays, we look into the context of the text. We think about the world into which the Word is spoken. We particularly note the contrasts to the truth being proclaimed. This contrast adds perspective, depth, and meaning to the message.
Even as Jesus speaks of “Living Water”, the setting of the Scripture provides the contrast. Jesus is on a tough, tiring journey from Judea to Galilee. He passes through Samaria, a No Man’s Land, avoided by most Jews. There is a sense of dryness and desolation in the moment.
In the journey, Jesus develops a thirst. He seeks a place to rest, to be refreshed. So he comes to the well.
At the well, he meets a woman who comes with her own “thirsts”. She has been cast out by social convention, she comes to the well alone. She knows segregation, racial, and religious, where Jews do not speak with Samaritans. Something deep within her thirst for something more, “Lord, give me this water!”
The contrast of “Thirst” and “Living Water” is present in the Scriptures and in our lives, particularly in these days of Covid 19. We thirst for connection, for security, for activity, for productivity, and for normalcy. As you think about your time over the last ten weeks what other “thirsts” you have experienced? Jot these down.
“Thirst” draws us to the Well. Thirst opens us to wondering, “How would God be pouring out the Holy Spirit upon and into our human spirits, especially now?” Are there choices I can make, healthy spiritual choices, that would be channels of the Spirit? Are there decisions I can make, positive decisions where I put myself more in a position to receive what Jesus is so ready to give?
These are good questions. As you look at the texts and the contexts you may have others. Every good “quest” gives rise to good questions. Make sure you write down the questions you have about the Holy Spirit, about the outpouring of “Living Water”.
As we get a sense of the “deeper thirsts” of our days, we experience more fully the power and the promise of Jesus’ “’gusher of grace’ rising up unto eternal life” (John 4:14).
In that blessing I look forward to our work today and our time tomorrow as the message comes together and we “Come to the Well”.
Prayer: Gracious God, you know our needs. Jesus came to be with us, like us, so we are assured You know what it means to thirst. Into our human spirits You would pour Your Holy Spirit. So often you are more ready to give than we are to receive. You only wait for us to ask, “Lord, give me that living water.” We ask that You turn our thirst upward into a prayer. In that blessing of a faithful ask and the confidence of your faithful answer we give you our thanks this day. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.