John 4:1-9
A friend and I were talking about avoiding people the other day. You know who I mean - the ones that stop you as you are trying to dash in and out of the grocery store, and start a long conversation. So you see them and quickly head on to the next aisle. Or you don't pick up the phone when you see thier number. Sometimes you even drop stuff at thier doorstep, then call to say it's there - the "drop and run", I think she called it, and we had a good laugh - because I had recently found something from her on my front porch!
In today's Scripture Jesus leaves Judea and is on His way back to Galilee, which would take Him through Samaria on the direct route. I've read that the Jews had a way to travel all the way around Samaria, even though it took longer, just to avoid the desipised Samaritans. But look at John 4:4, "Now He had to go through Samaria." He had to. Even though He knew the way around.
At around noon He is tired and sits down by Jacob's well in the town of Sychar. A Samaritan woman appears - she needs to draw water out of the well. Imagine her surprise at finding a Jewish man sitting there. Then He asks her for a drink. "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can You ask me for a drink?", she replies. A Jewish man in Samaria willing to speak to a Samaritan woman. Unheard of!
Jesus had to go to through Samaria on His way to Galilee because there was this Samaritan woman He needed to spend some time with. He already knew that she would have questions about religion, the men in her life, and water. It was going to take time to answer those questions, and if He would've taken the path around Samaria He could've avoided the long conversation. The kind my friend and I were talking about avoiding.
The result of His conversation - the conversion of many Samaritans who now believed in Him because of the woman's testimony. (See John 4:39)
What if I, instead of looking at those long conversations as an interruption, saw them as an opportunity to share the love of Christ? That trip to the grocery store takes on a whole new meaning!
Jesus was never too busy too busy to spend time with people, no task I have could ever pass as an excuse for not doing the same. " A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master." Matthew 10:24
As I read today's devotion I am convicted and convinced that one of the most obedient things I can do on a daily basis upon awakening each morning is to surrender my day to God. To pray and ask Him to guide and direct my steps. Rather than rush through the day with my daily tasks pressing on the forefront of my mind, I pray Lord that you would help me to have a brave, strong, fearless, yet tender heart in the presence of those you place in my path. Please cause me to STOP, PRAY, LISTEN and RESPOND with a possible word of encouragement, a gentle touch, a listening ear or a helping hand. At the end of the day I will have crossed paths with exactly the people God had planned. Shame, shame on your friend for her drop and run mindset. :)
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