The Woman And Her Water Pot

It did not seem like all that extraordinary of a day.  The woman awoke and began her chores as she did every other day.  There was much work to be done and much of it required water.  So she grabbed her water pot, just like always, and walked down to the community well.  The weather was not uncommon that day although it was already getting hot.  She reflected upon many memories of an unsettled and troubled past.  As she approached the well, she saw a man sitting by the well but he had no water pot.  He asked her for a drink, and she realiz ed he was a Jew.  He simply said, “Give me a drink.”  No formalities, no howdy, just “give me a drink.”  She asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask me, a Samaritan, for anything?  Everybody knows you have nothing to do with my kind.”  This was odd.  The man said He had a fountain of water, a gushing river, that springs up into everlasting life.  This was extremely odd.  But something in the woman desired to know more.  She had been through a tough life, she was tired and her soul was thirsty, so she replied, “I would sure like some of that kind of water.”  But Jesus would not make it easy.  He first had to deal with the root of her unsettledness in life.  He called her out and asked her about her husband.  She said, “I have no husband.”  He knew that already, and told her that she had previously known 5 different husbands and the man she currently lived with was not her husband.  He cut straight to the heart.  Got right down to issue.  Can you imagine a man, a stranger, piercing to the heart of her sin without even a warning?  This is more than odd, beyond ordinary.  How could He know such things?  The woman tried to change the subject by discussing where was the proper place to worship.  As with most people, when His truth pierced her heart she tried to talk about religious things without actually dealing with her sin.  She said, “Samaritans say one should worship at Mt. Gerizim, but the Jews say one must worship in Jerusalem.”  He wasn’t persuaded.  He didn’t buy into the debate.  He said, “True worship is in spirit, not bound by location. And true worship is in truth, not dictated by traditions.  He told her that true worship is coming and now is.  She started to feel something inside.  A stirring, an unfamiliar and extraordinary emotion.  She said, “I know that when the Messiah comes he will explain these things.”  He said, “I am He.”  Now there was more than a stirring.  Rivers of life began flowing into her soul.  She began to know life in a way she had never known possible.  Her heart was transformed.  She thought, “He knew my sin, and He dealt with it, but He was merciful and kind.  I tried to discuss religious things, but He met the need of my heart.  I went to the well to get water, I received so much more.”  She ran back to town to tell everyone about whom she had met, completely disregarding the fact that she left her water pot at the well.