Filling Empty Wells by Lisa Burkhardt Worley
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst (John 4:13–14, NIV).
I pay attention to repeat messages. On Saturday, one of my devotions spoke about the biblical story of the woman at the well, on Sunday the pastor at my son and daughter-in-law’s church preached on that passage found in John 4. Meanwhile, in a phone conversation on Monday, someone brought up the same Samaritan woman at the well. That had my attention, so I have been praying for the Holy Spirit to unveil what He wants me to see in that passage.
First, while people in the Samaritan woman’s community had rejected her because of her lifestyle, Jesus still loved her. She had been married five times and was now living with another man, and He knew it. She was an outcast—but that is exactly who Jesus loves to rescue.
Have you been rejected by those around you? Cast out by society? Jesus knows everything you’ve done but still cares.
Another reminder in the passage is when Jesus says, “…for salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22, NIV). Some Christians forget that God revealed himself to Abraham and the Israelites first, then when Jesus arrived, his ministry was to the Jew first. Gentiles joined the movement later. The Jewish roots of Christianity have never died.
The final important point of this passage, revealed to the woman by the well, is that Jesus is the Messiah! We are to worship Him in the Spirit and truth. I praise the Lord every morning through my favorite worship songs on YouTube. If I don’t feel His presence, I am disappointed. The chills, and the feeling I am not alone, is His presence.
Jesus was offering all of this to a woman who had been rejected by her peers and who was possibly shunned by family members. She most likely thirsted for love, seeking it from men, but that did not satisfy her. Jesus poured out His living water to the woman, so she would thirst no more. This longing for love could be satisfied by a relationship with Him.
What about you? Do you feel love has passed you by? Are you trying to quench your thirst with what the world has to offer? Our man-made wells will come up empty every time without Jesus to fill them.