Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional “Desert Experience” for Thursday, 13 November 2014 - Scripture: John 4:1-15

Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional “Desert Experience” for Thursday, 13 November 2014 - Scripture: John 4: The Woman at the Well
1-3 Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
4-6 To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
7-8 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
11-12 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”
13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”
15 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”
The Lord says, “I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring.”(Isaiah 44:3 (NRSV))
My country, Australia, has a large arid center. Running right through this center from north to south is a network of rivers that can be dry for years on end. This year, monsoonal rains in the north shed vast quantities of water into the catchment area for these rivers. Slowly, inexorably, the water began to flow south toward a great dry lake bed, Lake Ayre.
As the channels filled, new life appeared. Trees and shrubs flourished; grass sprang up; flowers bloomed. Animals and birds gathered. In Lake Ayre, myriad waterfowl flocked together to feed and breed. Life abounded again in the desert.
God assured his people he would pour out on them the water of life, and Jesus came offering “living water” to all who received him. The same is true today. When renewed spiritually, our lives blossom in Christ. Whoever believes in him becomes a source of “living water” (John 7:38) for others. When we allow the Holy Spirit to direct us into acts of mercy, faith, and love, we reveal the abundant life (John 10:10) welling up in us.
The Author: Everard Blackman (Queensland, Australia)
Thought for the Day: Christ’s presence can renew anyone.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us each day to reveal your life-giving presence to people we meet. Amen.
Prayer focus: People living in desert areas
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