His Journey To Find You

“Thou hast created us for Thyself and we are restless until we rest fully in Thee.”

(St Augustine)

Do you need rest? Rest from a life of endless searching.

Are you thirsty? Longing for something to fill the void in your soul.

Have you discovered the fountain of true satisfaction? A fountain that never runs dry.

You’ll find all this unraveled in this special story.

 The woman in this story relates with the need we all have. – A deep thirst.

And like that woman, we drag our my empty water pot to draw from wells that can’t fully satisfy.  Life remains dry and empty.

Your friends disappoint you. Your family neglects you. No one seems to understand you. You struggle with baggage of hurt, bitterness, abuse, addiction… You’re tired. You feel forgotten and forsaken.

There’s a Man who is after your heart. Just like He went all the way to connect with this woman, He’s still after your heart today.

Let’s pick few verses for today:

John 1-4

4 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,

² (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

³ He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

⁴ And he must needs go through Samaria.

He left Judaea…and MUST needs go through Samaria. No word in the scripture was used for “writing sake.” For the Bible to say Jesus “must“… The Son of God must… Then there must be a reason. Now understand this: Jesus was going from the southern part of Israel up to the northern part of Israel. And in between there was this region of Samaria. Typically Jews would do anything they could – like going around it – to avoid going through Samaria.

The Samaritans, both in blood and religion, were mongrel Jews, the posterity of those colonies which the king of Assyria planted there after the captivity of the ten tribes, with whom the poor of the land that were left behind, and many other Jews afterwards, incorporated themselves. They worshipped the God of Israel only, to whom they erected a temple on mount Gerizim, in competition with that at Jerusalem. There was great enmity between them and the Jews; the Samaritans would not admit Christ, when they saw he was going to Jerusalem (Lu. 9:53 ); the Jews thought they could not give him a worse name than to say, He is a Samaritan.

Mathew Henry’s commentary

But Jesus didn’t mind walking through Samaria, and stopping over to meet with a thirsty woman. He knew that God had an appointment waiting for Him there. That part of God’s purpose and plan for Him was to encounter this woman.

Here are three lessons and points to reflect on from today’s passage:

1. Jesus knows where to meet you. He knows your needs. Your pains. And He’s willing to go any length to get in touch with you and fill that thirst, that longing.  He has already made a huge sacrifice to reach your heart: leaving His throne in Heaven, coming down to this world, and walking through lots of pain and discomfort. Then He sealed it on the cross, breaking the middle wall of partition, so that everyone who thirsts can look up to Him and be filled. He’s done more for you than was done for that Samaritan woman. I don’t know where you are in your walk today. You may be very far from Him or you may be near to Him. Today, He stands at the door of your heart knocking… Just open the door and start a conversation with Jesus. The result will be – total transformation, just like the Samaritan woman.

Reflections:

• What thirsts do you want Jesus to meet in these areas of your life: Spiritual, Relationship, Career/Business:, Financial, Family, Physically, Emotionally, etc.

2. Although Samaria was a land known for defilement, Jesus walked through it undefiled. Rather, He left it better and brighter than He met it. We live in a messy world. And we can’t escape walking through it. Like the bible says, we are in the world, but not of the world. We need to be like Jesus.

Reflection: 

What does Matthew 6 tell us about our walk in this world?

• How will you use your skill and talents to make the world better than you met it?
• Read the parable of the talents in Luke 10, and ask God for the grace and wisdom to employ your talents for His glory.

3. God is omnipotent, omnipresence and omniscience. He made everything and everyone for His glory. The devil can’t claim any land or person for himself. God still rules.

Reflections:

• Read and memorize this verse: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelations 4:11)