John 4:1 When Yeshua learned that the P’rushim had heard he was making and immersing more talmidim than Yochanan 2 (although it was not Yeshua himself who immersed but his talmidim), 3 Yeshua left Y’hudah and set out again for the Galil. 4 This meant that he had to pass through Shomron.
5 He came to a town in Shomron called Sh’khem, near the field Ya‘akov had given to his son Yosef. 6 Ya‘akov’s Well was there; so Yeshua, exhausted from his travel, sat down by the well; it was about noon. 7 A woman from Shomron came to draw some water; and Yeshua said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” 8 (His talmidimhad gone into town to buy food.) 9 The woman from Shomron said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for water from me, a woman of Shomron?” (For Jews don’t associate with people from Shomron.) 10 Yeshua answered her, “If you knew God’s gift, that is, who it is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink of water,’ then you would have asked him; and he would have given you living water.”
11 She said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep; so where do you get this ‘living water’? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Ya‘akov, are you? He gave us this well and drank from it, and so did his sons and his cattle.” (Complete Jewish Bible)
Most Christians want to reach out to people perishing apart from God’s grace. In fact, Jesus commands it in Matthew 28: 19-20. But where are the lost? They are everywhere. People who need to know Jesus and His promise of living water are in our neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, shopping districts, and sports fields.
There is no need to fear meeting people where they are. Neighbors are more touched by our willingness to be lovingly involved in their lives than by our abstention from them. A good Christian witness can begin as simply as being active in the community, making friends and showing kindness to everyone.
Note how Jesus approached the sin-laden Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:7. He did not begin with, “Hey, sinner, change your life or else!” Instead, he simply asked the woman drawing water, “Will you give me a drink?” The conversation that followed would not likely have gone as well as it did if Jesus had approached her fearfully, judgmentally, or disdainfully. He approached her humbly. She responded to his request to be included in her rationing of water, and that began a life-changing conversation.
Hymn for Today: "Our Great Savior" by James Wilbur Chapman.
1. Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.
Refrain: Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.
2. Jesus! what a Strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him;
Tempted, tried, in Him confiding,
He, my Strength, my vict’ry wins.
Let me hide myself in Him;
Tempted, tried, in Him confiding,
He, my Strength, my vict’ry wins.
- Refrain: Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.
While the billows o’er me roll,
Even when my heart is breaking,
He, my Comfort, helps my soul.
Refrain: Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.
4. Jesus! what a Guide and Keeper!
While the tempest still is high,
Storms about me, night o’ertakes me,
He, my Pilot, hears my cry.
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.
4. Jesus! what a Guide and Keeper!
While the tempest still is high,
Storms about me, night o’ertakes me,
He, my Pilot, hears my cry.
Refrain: Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.
5. Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find;
Christ in me, the Hope of glory,
I am His, and He is mine.
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.
5. Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find;
Christ in me, the Hope of glory,
I am His, and He is mine.
Refrain: Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.
Thought for Today: 8 But you will receive power when the Ruach HaKodesh comes upon you; you will be my witnesses both in Yerushalayim and in all Y’hudah and Shomron, indeed to the ends of the earth!” (Acts 1:8).
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.
Thought for Today: 8 But you will receive power when the Ruach HaKodesh comes upon you; you will be my witnesses both in Yerushalayim and in all Y’hudah and Shomron, indeed to the ends of the earth!” (Acts 1:8).
Please pray: For laity involved in evangelism training.
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