Words of Grace – Jan. 23, 2014

Jesus was passing through the region of Samaria and stopped at a well to get a drink. When a Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water, Jesus said to her:

“Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again.” But then he added, “Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give will never thirst.”

That offer got the woman’s attention. “Sir,” she said, “give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.”

She was thinking in the physical sense of how wonderful it would be for her not to have to go to the well again. The sun was hot and the water pots were heavy. What a relief it would be to never get thirsty again, she must have thought.

What Jesus offered to the woman was the water of life, eternal life, in himself. Jesus is the Water of life and the Well of salvation. When she realized this, she left her water pot at the well and went home to tell others about the Savior.

“The Samaritan woman in John 4 left her water pot and went away with the Well,” wrote Alford Edersheim. “The woman, forgetful of her errand, and only conscious of that new wellspring of life that had risen within her, left the unfilled water pot by the well and hurried into the city.”

Someone has described it all in this little poem:

“Jesus gave her water that was not in the well: She went away singing, And came back bringing others for the water that was not in the well.”