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1Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, "Jesus is baptizing
and making more disciples than John" 2(though
Jesus himself didn't baptize them--his disciples did).
3So he left
Judea to
return to Galilee. 4He had to go through
Samaria on the way. 5Eventually he came to the
Samaritan village of Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to
his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there; and
Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.
7Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and
Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink." 8He
was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy
some food. 9The 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?" 10Jesus
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." 11"But sir, you
don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this is a very deep well.
Where would you get this living water? 12And
besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? How
can you offer better water than he and his sons and his cattle enjoyed?" 13Jesus
replied, "People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water.
14But the water I give them takes away thirst
altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal
life." 15"Please, sir," the woman said, "give me some of that
water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to
haul water." John 4:1-15 NLT
We have
all heard the various clichés that mean you get what you put in. Be it about
life, our health, our life, our relationships, or our jobs. Whatever effort
we put into those areas of life we will reap the benefits. The same is true
with our spiritual disposition.
We may dress up real nice, carry a pretty Bible and go to church on Sundays
and look like a good Christian. But if that is the only effort that we make
for the week then that is all we are going to accomplish. We are not going
to be living in the fullness of joy that we are promised if we follow His
will. And when it comes to needing to rely on spiritual help and make a
withdrawal on our spiritual knowledge during the week, its not going to be
there because we spent whatever we had invested putting on our facade when
we went to church. Also when the time comes and we are needed, we are not
going to be able to draw on anything to minister to anyone because we have
not invested enough into ourselves to be able to share with anyone else.
Inevitably, during the course of the week, after we have spent all that we
gained by going to church that one day, our true colors will begin to show
and our true master will be revealed. Our true master being whatever we have
chosen to give precedence to over filling ourselves with the Word of God and
walking in His will.
Often times we only call out to God when we have finally realized that there
is no way out of a situation that we got ourselves into. We often enter
these situations knowing that they are wrong but convincing ourselves that
we have control and wont allow ourselves to go in too deep. What a silly
notion. Once the flesh has a taste of sin it desires, longs, and hungers for
more. The need never goes away, it only gets more powerful. When we call on
God for these reasons He is faithful to hear and to rescue. So we fall back
in line for a while, thank Him for His faithfulness and then go back to
taking care of ourselves. We only come back to Him when we get ourselves
back in the ditch that we cant get out of.
God provided a remedy for this continual need to satisfy the fleshly desire
of sin. We go back to the flesh because we feel a void in us that we have to
fill. Jesus came to give us living water that satisfies any desire. It
replaces the continual need to find something to fill the emptiness inside
that is never satisfied. It has always been available and it has always been
the answer to habitual sin. But we have never taken advantage of it in its
entirety.
We go to church one day a week and thank and expect that alone to carry us
through the week. We never consider feeding ourselves spiritually during the
week by reading the bible or doing a bible study. We only take advantage of
our God and His abilities when we need Him. We never think that we wouldn't
have to ask so much if we would take some time to build a spiritual
storehouse and keep it filled both in and out of season. We have only been
taking this living water drop by drop. We take just enough to get us by
until the next time.
God is raising up a new generation of Christians that know how to serve Him
or desire to learn how to serve Him. He is raising up a generation of
disciples that are willing to lay down their beings and take up their cross
on a daily basis and follow Him. They are committed to doing His and being
empty vessels for His purpose. He is still offering this living water, but
He is tired of drop feeding. He is calling this new generation by saying
have your cup ready and be prepared to gulp.
Mike Aguilar, January 2002
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