No Ordinary Day at the Well

~~~ Third Sunday of Lent ~~~

~~~ Exodus 17: 3-7 ~~~Psalm 95~~~Romans 5: 1-2, 5-8~~~John 4:5-42~~~

Moses cries out to the Lord for help in fear of his life.

The people are filled with discontent over the lack of water.

Water sustains life...without water we die in just a few days.

Recently a woman caused the death of her son.

As a punishment, she withheld water from him for too long.

Needless to say she was not very bright.

God heard the plea of Moses with a miracle.

Water was brought forth form a rock.

All things are possible for God he has shown this to us many times.

Oh, that we should hear the Lord as well as he hears us.

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Lent is a time to really focus on listening for the voice of the Lord.

What do you hear him saying to your heart.

We should pay more attention to what comes from our heart.

'...the love of God has been poured out into our hearts

'...hope does not disappoint, 
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts 
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us...'

The woman at the well, that solemn afternoon,
 was given the gift of love pouring into her heart.

She was not really loved by either her many husbands
 or any other women in the town.

She was an outcast evidenced by the timing
of her drawing water from the well so late in the day.

The women normally came early in the day to draw the water.
They came before the heat of the day.
They used this time to socialize together...
to catch up with each others from the day before.

She had no one with which to share her joys and sorrows.

Having someone speak to her at the well,
even a Jewish man, was a big deal.
Why was he there at the well that day?
He was not expecting to draw water up for himself;
he had no bucket.
To her surprise Jesus began a conversation with her.
Why would he care to talk to her?
She was definitely one of those sinners
Jesus so often found himself keeping company with.

But as they talked she began to sense something
very different about this man, Jesus.

She began to sense in her heart a rare kind of pure love.
A love she had not experienced before,
surely not with any of her five husbands.
She came to accept in her heart that Jesus
cared about her in spite of knowing
everything about her wretched life.

He offered her something utterly life changing...
unconditional love and forgiveness.
The woman knew of the coming of the Messiah,
but until Jesus said the confirming words to her she was unaware.
"I am he, the one speaking with you."

She not only heard the voice of God that day
she also experienced a total eclipse of the heart.
Her heart was eclipsed by the holiness of the Messiah.
She was a changed woman.
She was filled with the joy of hope
 maybe for the first time in her life.

I can hardly imagine the joy she felt
the day she came to the well alone.

Jesus wants to give you that same unconditional love.
Let him touch your heart.