Devotional #16, "Would Jesus love us today?"


John 4:4-10
"He (Jesus) had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually he came to the Samarian village of Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Jacob's well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink." He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?" Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water."

John 4:25&26
"The woman said, "I know the Messiah will come--the one who is called Christ. When he comes he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus told her, "I am the Messiah!"


This is an amazing story in the life of Jesus and I beleive it is one of the greatest illustrations of hope for us, boylovers who are Christians. The amazing thing about this story is that Jesus not only chose to speak to this woman, but that he did so with such heartfelt love. This woman was a Samaritan, a member of a hated mixed race; very much dispised by the Jews. She was known to be living in sin. And this all happened in a public place. No respectable Jewish man would ever talk to a woman like this under such circumstances. It was completely unheard of, but Jesus loved doing the unheard of in order to reach those whom one would think unreachable.

I believe we who are minor attracted resemble the Samaritans in the way we are treated by society. Just as the Jews practiced a "hands off" policy with the Samaritans, society at large as well as most who consider themselves religious, tend to do the same with us. But would Jesus do that to us today? Or more importantly, IS Jesus doing that to us today? I would have to say a loud, resounding "NO!" to both of those questions. As we know, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If he could go against his own culture to reach someone so dispised back then, certainly he would do the same for us today. In fact, he is doing that for us today, if we come to him with our whole hearts and accept him into our lives. He is available for all who come to him. He will seek us out and come sit at our wells. And just as he chose to reviel himself as Messiah to that woman, he chooses to reviel himself to us.

Jesus is absolutely just as much a loving savior for us as he is for anyone else. In fact, he may be even more a savior to those who are in more of a need of a savior. People like us, the dispised Samaritans of our time. That is why we may take such hope from this passage, because we are only dispised by the world...not by the One who really matters, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Prayer:
Oh Lord Jesus, we see you sitting by our well, asking us for water and eager to reviel yourself to us. Oh thank you for your loving heart and persistance in our lives, giving so much of yourself to such dispised people like us. Because of you, we are no longer dispised but accepted and loved forever. For that we thank you with all our hearts. Amen.