Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10 NIV
A triple surprise in this encounter that Jesus has with this Samaritan woman. First, that a Jew would speak to a Samaritan. Second, that a man would speak to a woman he didn’t know in public. Third, that a Jew would drink from a Samaritan’s cup. In the first century it was almost unheard of for a man to speak to a woman in public in those circumstances. To ask for a drink of water was even more unusual since the Rabbis taught that it was a sin to touch a utensil that a Samaritan had touched. When Jesus offers her “living water,” He is being deliberately ambiguous because the phrase could also mean running water. He is inciting her curiosity without making her suspicious. “You came here for water. I’ve got water you’ve never dreamed of before.” He is leading her step by step to saving faith. He leads her to see her need, then He reveals who He is, then He offers her something that could change her life. He is offering not to quench her thirst but to banish it once and for all. Jesus returns again and again to the central issue: “Do you know who I am? You could ask, and I would give you water that leads to eternal life.” This is salvation. It’s asking Jesus to save us and receiving salvation in return. Salvation is ours for the asking. Anyone who drinks of the water of this world will thirst again.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord, we come to You for the living water that You offer to one and all.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord Jesus, we come to You to drink of the Living Water that You offer, that leads to eternal life. AMEN
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)
Ruth 1:1-18
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