John 4:13-14 - "Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'"
My children amaze me. Relatively speaking, they are very young, 21, 18, and 15. Yet, they all have the ability to meet people where those people are at, then stand their own ground in Christ, and then explicitly invite those people to a new life in Christ. That is an amazing ability and strength, regardless of age. It only comes from God in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ.
In today's Bible verses, that's what Jesus did. He met the woman where she was at, then stood his own ground, and then invited her to a new life in himself, Jesus Christ. It is good for us to note that Jesus didn't just bump into this woman whose life-decisions were less than stellar. He knew where he was and what time it was. He knew who showed up at the well at that time. In sum, he knew that he was going to get to talk to someone who nobody else would talk to.
Jesus didn't care what people said about him talking to people that no one else would talk to. Jesus cared far more about the people who needed someone to talk to. And in talking to them, he would offer them a real and everlasting alternative. He offered them himself. He offered them himself as someone who would share fellowship with them and listen to them and teach them and invite them to faith. And he offered them himself as someone who himself could change their lives forever.
This is what my children do in the pattern of Jesus. They talk to people that no one else will talk to. They do this at ball fields and banks. They do this in cafeterias and classrooms.
In the Bible, God tells me many times to follow Jesus, who will lead me. God tells me many times to follow his word, which will lead me. And God tells me to follow the amazing witness of my children as, in Isaiah 11:6, God says "a little child shall lead."
Praise God for Jesus, God's Word, and all the amazing people who encourage me and you with a clear example of living like Jesus toward others so that all of us can share God's love.
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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