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by Kevin Pauley
So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. "Give Me a drink," Jesus said to her, - John 4:5-7 HCSB
We must make ourselves aware of witnessing opportunities as they arise. Many people say, “I would share more but I just don’t have the opportunity.” Yeshua didn’t wait for a special occasion. He didn’t really have to go through Samaria. Most Jews crossed the river Jordan, got on the King’s Highway and headed north. This was a much faster, easier and safer route. It’s important to note that He arrived exhausted! However, by doing so He created an opportunity to reach out to the Samaritan people.[1] We need to go out of our way to share our faith with others.
We mustn’t allow cultural barriers to become boundaries. There were lots of excuses the Master could have used to not witness. He was dealing with a woman. In His culture, men didn’t generally address women and by doing so, He was opening Himself up to the possibility of accusation. She was a Samaritan. She was of ill-repute.[2] He was tired and there was peer pressure to not speak to her.[3] But the Lord broke down all the barriers by asking her for help, making Himself vulnerable to her.
We must be ready to give an honest testimony about what God has done in our lives. Yeshua presented the possibility of possessing the Spirit as a permanent source of strength and power in her life. He described this as a “spring of living water.” He not only showed the possibilities but made it attractive![4]
We must deal with them where they are. Jesus directly addressed her needs and made her confront her dissatisfaction with life.[5] She was obviously looking for a deeper relationship. She’d gone through five husbands and was currently living with someone. Note that Jesus dealt with the issue but didn’t do it in a condemning tone. He simply made her get honest with herself. As we deal with the lost, we must be humble; we’re no better than they are. Nailing them to the wall may lead them to think that somehow they have to earn their way into heaven or “turn over a new leaf” before they can accept Christ.
We should be passionate about them.[6] Yeshua was so preoccupied by His zeal for the Samaritans that He forgot His hunger. He forgot His exhaustion. The Father’s will is that none should perish but that all should find eternal life.[7] The Son made His Father’s will His own to the point that it mattered more than rest – more than food. We need to be so aware of the tremendous gift that salvation is and of the tremendous peril the lost person is in that winning them takes precedence over even the most fundamental of physical needs.
Kevin Pauley is a pastor and writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Lynn, their five children and two dogs. His internet address is Berea.
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