We all know the story of Jesus meeting that Samaritan Woman outside of Sychar in Samaria… There is so much intentionality in this story. Jews generally went AROUND rather than through Samaria when traveling between Galilee and Judea… but in John 4, “he HAD , TO go through Samaria”

The women normally came to draw water in the morning when it was cooler, but this woman did not, because of lack of relationship and reputation. She came at noon.
Jesus had stopped by “Jacob’s well” that morning because he was, worn out from the journey, sending his disciples on to town for food. It was noon… and Jesus was sitting there waiting.

She came at noon… was drawing water, keeping to herself I’m sure… Jesus created a conversation… “Give me a drink” Might not seem like much to us, but men didn’t talk to unrelated women, nor Jews to Samaritans…

Her response? “How is it that YOU, a Jew, ASK… from ME, a Woman, a Samaritan… for a drink“

Ok, we have a conversation. Do WE create opportunities for a conversation with people we normally would not walk with, people who need a conversation? Jesus was there intentionally, he had a purpose.

“If you knew… the gift of God… who is speaking… you would ask HIM… he would give you LIVING water.

Ok now… he’s seeing where she is…

I used to know an auto mechanic that would have gospel conversations with people standing and watching while he was balancing a tire or fixing a car. “You know life gets out of balance sometimes, things get broken…” He was creating conversations.

“Sir, you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where do YOU get LIVING water. Are you greater than Jacob?”

If we create conversations, people will ask the pertinent questions.

He was telling her, “you get thirsty every day, but the water I will give… you will never be thirsty again. In fact, the water I give will become a well springing up in him for eternal life.“

Sir… give me THIS water.

There is so much in this interaction. I want to encourage us to create conversations, look for opportunities. See where people are and take them there. If this woman has replied, “leave me alone”, or “I don’t want to talk about this, I don’t believe you can do this” – well Jesus would have left her alone. But she responded, continued, was latching on to the key words and asking the right questions… where… living… give it to me

Read the REST of the interaction in John 4, see how he walked along to see where she was, I use it often as an example with people on how to have gospel conversations…

But when I first looked at this passage, this morning, v14 jumped out at me for a “flip side” observation, and questions rose for WE WHO are already “drinkers from the well, indwelt by the Spirit of God…

• do we have misplaced thirst
• what is “springing up” in our response to stimuli?
• Bump a glass and what’s inside will come out… where have we been drinking and filling our thirst?
• Even though we know and belong to Jesus, sometimes we drink from the wrong well – we still have an old and a new nature in us. Sometimes we drink from the wrong well.

And then I just wrote down, “STOP IT.”

Put down the cup to the old cistern and drink from living water. Old Cisterns get filled by rain, runoff, or intentional filling. Then can become stagnant, bug infested, diseased, but the Spring of Living Water… runs from a clean source.

WOW – I made a hard shift here didn’t I? But stop and look, ask, where am I drinking, seeking to quench my thirst?

Drink from the Living Water and find Thirst Quenched…

…THEN, offer someone else a drink