To Be Known Is to Be Loved

           The sun scorched her skin as she trekked to Jacob’s well. She shielded her eyes from the rays of light blocking her view to make sure she’d be alone to draw water at midday. She checked to make sure nobody was coming with her—she was sick of the stares.

            No one else should have been at the well, but as she reached her destination, a man resting against the stone came into focus. Recognizing He was a Jew, she turned her eyes downward and began to draw water. Startling her, He spoke.

           “Will you give me a drink?”

           "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" she asked. 

            "If you knew the gift of God and who it was that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water," He answered (NIV John 4:4-10).

           She stood stunned for a second knowing that if He really knew her, He'd never ask her for anything, much less offer this "living water.” 

             I imagine this was something that went through the Samaritan woman’s mind as she first saw Jesus. She knew this man was a Jew who shouldn’t speak with Samaritans, much less a Samaritan woman. She was probably waiting for Him to stop talking to her because of her shameful past, but Jesus didn’t. In fact, He told her who she was (sins and all) yet loved her still and offered her new life. Jesus knew her and didn’t glare at her with judgmental glances. He simply loved her, and that love changed her life (John 4:39-42).

           We, like the Samaritan woman, are full of past failures, sins, and shame, but as Jesus offered living water to this lady, He offers us the same, freely. The truth is that Jesus didn’t tell the woman to get her life together before she could have the gift of God; He forgave her even in her sin and then, changed her life.

            We can come to Christ just as we are because “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (NIV, Romans 5:8). Know this, there is nothing you have done that God cannot forgive, and you don’t have to work to change yourself.

Come just as you are, and leave the rest to Christ.

Living Life Together, 

Rebecca Thomas