It's nothing but determined Love to step out of one's own cultural structure and care enough about a stranger to step into theirs.

Jesus did just that. He went from village to village telling all who listened, of a promise of love and salvation. On one occasion he went to a Samaritan village and spoke to a woman that must have felt so worthless that she chose to draw her water during the heat of the day away from other villagers. Evidently the she was treated with coldness, and harshness or maybe even threats from her own people.

The Jewish and Samaritan culture where different and they didn't associate. So, why did Jesus choose this village to rest and get a drink from their well? From childhood it is in the scriptures that Jesus was intent on sharing to all people God's love and promises.

On this day he conversed with this Samaritan woman. He started his conversation by asking her to draw him a drink of water and then with their exchanges he told her that she was loved and how to achieve salvation. Jesus changed her life after that conversation and she no longer cared who she encountered to tell about her conversation with Jesus. She was so excited from their talk, that she left her water jar at the well and ran back to the village to tell everyone that she had met Jesus the Messiah.

As followers of Christ, we must be willing to go to people of all cultures and show that the love of God does exist even when they don't feel it. It is our responsibility to share the way of salvation as Jesus did to all people.

Many people do not feel they are important or worth anything and maybe to the world they aren't. But, to God, they are. We the ambassadors of Jesus Christ must convey his love and the way. Take the time to talk to someone, tell him or her that they are important and they do matter. Tell them they are loved and that there is a way to a more perfect future.

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In John 4, we find one of the many examples of Jesus sharing God's glory to somebody. Although there are many of these incidences, you won't find many that place Jesus preaching in a church building. Jesus brought his ministry out to the world. He calls us to do this same thing. There are hundreds of people outside the church that don't know God, and I believe it's because the people in the church keep their beliefs in the church building for the most part. If we want to be the kind of Church that brings others to Christ, we need to start by showing Christ through ourselves and glorifying God, not only in the church building, but in all things and at all places in our lives. In John 4, Jesus (a Jew) is speaking with a Samaritan woman, which in that culture was unheard of. Although this was culturally unheard of, it was still no barrier for Jesus' ministry. He had the right idea. God loves all of his children, no matter where they come from, what color their skin is, or what things they've done, He loves them the same. Jesus loved all with this love, even the ones who put him on the cross.

Loving others with the love of Jesus can be hard. You may question why some people are worth it or how God can possibly love them, but remember that God literally loved the ones that put him on a cross to die. There is nothing you can do to make God love you any less. Please pray with me.

Dear Lord, please help us to love others as you love us. Bring us humility and let us cast out our pride and see everyone as a child of God. Forgive us when we fail and believe some aren't worthy of your love. Let us be selfless servants of your will now and forever. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Read John 4:1-38

The Pharisees tried to cause strife between Jesus and John the Baptist by keeping count of the number of baptisms performed by each and posting the numbers like scores at a sporting event. To prevent confusion and competition Jesus leaves Judea and puts distance between John and Him. Imagine how He might have felt. He has walked a long distance on a trip that He was forced to take. It is the middle of the day, no doubt hot and dry. He and His companions are hungry. The disciples go to buy food and Jesus takes a much-needed break. He sits on the side of a well. Many of them have shelters so perhaps He was enjoying the shade and resting His feet for the first time in many hours and a woman approaches. Jesus is like a man stuck at an airport in a snowstorm, weary from travel, but instead of rolling his eyes at the woman, He speaks to her. Instead of wishing He were home in his bed, He sets aside his own circumstances and makes time to speak to this woman with love and compassion.

To make matters worse, the woman is of a lower social standing; furthermore, she is what many would call a wanton. She has been married many times and is now living with a man who is not her husband. She is the sort of woman we imagine seeing on a daytime talk show dressed in clothing too small for her. Jesus speaking to her would be like Jackie O' taking the woman from the talk show on a girl's luncheon. It simply wasn't done. But, the great "rule" breaker himself ignored the social customs just as he ignored His tired feet and He told the woman about God and that worshiping Him wasn't just for Jews but it was available to everyone: Samaritans, Jews, daytime talk show women and Jackie O' alike.

Reflect on this story this week and consider how it is a model for how we might reach out to others in our own lives. The next time you have tired feet consider that it not be an inconvenience at all. It might be an opportunity to serve the Lord.

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The words "evangelism" and "outreach" are scary words in today's culture. It seems that no matter how secure someone is in his own faith, it is hard to reach out to someone and share that faith. "What would I say?" we think. "I'm no preacher, and I don't know how to tell someone about this stuff."

In 1 Peter, this is addressed. "Above all, love each other deeply...Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." It goes on to say that if someone speaks, he should speak as though the words he says are straight from God, and if someone serves, he should do it as Jesus would.

This, to me, says that Jesus does not have to be introduced to someone with specific words. One of my favorite quotes says that we should preach the Gospel at all times...and if it becomes necessary, then we should use words. Our lives are our testimony. When we go to people, meeting them wherever they are, and show them a life that has been touched and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, God's message comes across. When we take when we know to be true in our hearts and let it shine through our words and actions, people will see Jesus. When we make no distinction between how we act at church and how we act the rest of the week, we are taking the cross into the world...and into the thirsty areas of people's lives.

Lord, help people see You when they look at me. Let my life be a living testimony of who You are, what You have done, and what You are able to do. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

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Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (John 4)

Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." 11 "But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? (John 4:10-11)
On His way back to Galilee, Jesus stops at a well in Samaria. He does not have a bucket from which to draw water. He speaks to a Samaritan woman who is there in the heat of midday. She is probably there at this time to avoid contact with the other women who come in the cool of the morning, because she is shunned for her tattered history and reputation. But Jesus goes to her and asks her to draw a drink from the well. She is surprised, for she recognizes that Jesus is a Jew, and Jews didn't socialize with Samaritans.
But as the story progresses, we discover that it is Jesus who offers to quench her thirst. He forgives her sin, and quenches her thirst for a new life. He reveals who He is, Messiah, and offers to her the same salvation He offers to you and I. She is so amazed by His love for her, even after He reveals that He knows everything about her, that she runs off to tell her story even to those who had previously shunned her.
Jesus entered our world so that He could meet with us and reveal God to us and meet our needs. He did not wait for the woman to come and find Him, but rather went to the well to find her. He comes to us in the midst of our sinful lives, and meets us right where we are. He speaks to us and to our way of living in the same way He spoke with this Samaritan woman. He offers to quench our thirst and to ransom us from the penalties of sinful living, just as He offered to this woman.
What would Jesus find if He came into the midst of your life and sat down next to where you draw whatever now quenches your thirsts, and how would you respond to Him? Will you take a drink of living water?

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