“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
Grace often comes as a surprise when we are least expecting it. There was a woman who went to draw water at a well. It was around noon…the hottest part of the day. She wasn’t looking for anything, just going about her day, doing her duty as she always had. She had no idea someone was waiting for her. She could not have guessed the surprise she was about to encounter.
“Draw me water,” Jesus asked. He had been sitting there, tired and thirsty from his day of traveling.
Shocked and a bit startled, she wondered how he could ask this of her? She was a woman, and a Samaritan woman whom the Jews despised. Asking for water would make him ceremonially unclean.
Jesus told her that he could give her “living water” so that she would never thirst again. He baffled her once more. Jesus then revealed she had had five husbands and was living with one whom she was not married to. He caught her attention a third time.
GRACE
Grace was waiting for her that day. Grace was sitting there, eager to give her a glimpse, a taste of something beyond her circumstances. Grace wanted to encounter her in a way only it could… to touch her beyond her physical needs and heal her eternally.
Perhaps Jesus knew there was a longing in her heart that she hadn’t yet expressed. She needed redemption; someone to rescue her from the turmoil of her life. We know she was touched in a powerful way because the accounts show that because of her story, many Samaritans came to believe in Jesus as their Savior.
Where do you need to see grace today?
Father God, thank you for Your grace so unexpected, so undeserved...a true gift enveloped with eternal love. Thank you for capturing us with grace in moments we least expect. Open my eyes to see how You continue to want to show me who You are so I may extend your gift of grace to others. Amen
Take Action
As the Samaritan woman did, we can share our story of how we have encountered Jesus. Let us never fail to speak of His goodness and kindness in our lives so that others may also be touched by the grace of God. Some time this week start a spiritual conversation.