Seed of Faith – Spiritually Lost By Pastor Dave
“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
Dear Faithful and Fearless Seed-Sowers,
It is my prayer that as we live and walk through this world-wide pandemic that we do not get lost! Have you ever felt spiritually lost? Do you feel a little spiritually lost now? My prayer is that God’s word will be our guide and that we won’t get lost.
We have been taking time to sit at the well in Samaria with Jesus and the woman at the well. I encourage you to read John 4:1-26 this week. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak life and light to your heart and mind.
Last week we looked at the fact that the woman at the well was spiritually empty The woman at the well missed the real living water at first. Why? She was spiritually empty and spiritually lost.
SPIRITUALLY LOST
What I find interesting in this story is that Jesus speaks seven times in the conversation and the woman speaks six. Jesus begins with a question, “Will you give me a drink?” Jesus, the living water, asks for a drink of water. The woman replies with a tirade of prejudices. “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus challenges her with the statement, “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.”
Don’t you find it interesting that this woman misses Jesus’ invitation completely?
I wonder how many times you and I have missed these encounters with Jesus. Jesus offers us himself and we question and doubt Him just like the woman at the well. “Hey, Mr. Living Water, where’s your bucket? Where are your containers? You think I’m going to do all the work and give you a drink of my water? What are you doing here, coming to the well in the middle of the day? There is never anyone here…but me. And you expect me to fetch you a drink? Mighty bold of you, Mr. Living Water.”
Jesus asked a question. That is all. “Will you give me a drink?”
One hundred years ago, The Student Volunteer Movement for Missions met in Des Moines, Iowa, and they voted to drop the traditional aspects of its program which had focused on Bible study, evangelism, and foreign missions. Instead they voted to choose to focus on racial injustice, imperialism, and other social issues. Within fifteen years the movement was dead.[i]
Thirsty people need more than optimism, confidence, self-will, and self-worth. They need good news and that good news centers in the only one who can say, “The water I give [you] will become in [you] a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”’
The problem is that when a person is spiritually empty and spiritually lost—it is easy for us to miss Jesus at the wells of our lives.
SPIRITUALLY FULL — SATISFIED
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Look for a moment at what Jesus is saying to the woman in verses 13 and 14. Jesus tells her that nothing will ever satisfy her longing and dissatisfaction…except for a continuous long drink of God’s living water. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.”
Don’t miss the word, “Never!” (Say that verse again.)
Jesus saw the woman for who she was: God’s creation.
Jesus sees us for who we are: God’s creation.
Are you spiritually empty? Are you spiritually lost? This story is put here for us! Can we read and come to know and understand that Jesus offers us this same drink of living Water? This drink will satisfy our thirsty soul forever. Do not miss what Jesus offers the woman and what Jesus offers us: a drink of living water that will completely satisfy and permanently satisfy. Once we have tasted this living water of Jesus Christ, we will never be thirsty again. Once we have tasted the living water of Jesus, the ways of the world lose their hold on us.
SO WHAT?
So what do these ancient words mean to us today as we are shut-in, shut-out, or essential workers? What about our relationships, our families, our church and our friendships? I am here today to tell you that God wants to speak to you of a living water that will fill you and bring you eternal life.
When we were in Zambia, Africa, with our mission team I was struck by the life-giving wells that have been dug in the compounds. The people of the area go daily to these wells for water, 365 days a year. Do you know that the human body is made up of 60% water? Do you know you could go without food for about 3 weeks but you could only go without water for 3-4 days? Every cell in our body needs water. Water is a lubricant for our joints, regulates our body temperature, and flushes out waste. Water acts as a shock absorber for your brain and spinal cord. Water is needed by your brain to manufacture hormones and your neurotransmitters. Water helps to deliver oxygen throughout your body.
Now, can you understand why Jesus met this outcast Samaritan woman at the well, in the middle of the day? “Will you give me a drink?”
Why didn’t she just give the guy a drink? Because she was spiritually empty, and spiritually lost. She needed a spiritual refilling and Jesus knew that. I am going to be really bold here: When Jesus meets you at the center of your emptiness and lostness, it’s an invitation for you to never thirst again. It is an invitation for your hot, dry well to become a SPRING of life-giving water. A spring has an underground source. Much of the bottled water that we pay good money for today comes from SPRINGS of underground wells!
Are you hearing what the Holy Spirit is saying? Are your ears open? Are your eyes open? Is your heart open? Jesus wants to trade us: our stagnant, worldly well for His, our shallow, empty well for His, our dried up, lost well for His.
“I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me, makes the lame to walk and the blind to see, opens prison doors, sets the captives free. I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me. SPRING UP, O WELL, and fill my soul! Spring up, O well, and make me whole! Spring up, O well, and give to me: THAT LIFE ABUNDANTLY!”
Here is a link to the song on YouTube … https://youtu.be/ytGCFLK3KtU
Here we are, Jesus is standing at your well and asks you a simple question, “Will you give me a drink?”
Here’s your answer. “Jesus, thanks for meeting me here at my empty well. Why don’t you give me a drink of your living water instead?” I promise you: HE WILL! And you will never thirst again. Keep drinking from the life-giving well of Jesus Christ and from the words of Scripture; living words for parched souls: acronym for BIBLE–Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth!
“Jesus, meet me at the wells I visit that never seem to satisfy my soul. I want the life-giving water that springs up eternal life. Amen.”
See you Sunday!
God loves you and so do I,
Pastor Dave
www.theseedchristianfellowship.com
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