Ack!! I thought I set my alarm for this morning and I totally didn't!! No wonder I heard my kids talking. I thought it was just another day of them being weird, but no, it was my mistake. Although, truth be told, 7:00 am is still too early for Honey. My loving husband rolled over, put his arm around me and said "if you're going to do your bible reading you'd better wake up". Then he crawled out of bed to take care of the kids. How awesome is that!?
John 4 starts off with Jesus leaving Judah and returning to Galilee after the arrest of John the Baptist. I know this because it says so in my study bible. He deliberately avoids confrontation with Pharisees. I wouldn't say he ran away, but knew that greater things needed to happen and it wasn't his time to entwine himself with them just yet. Today's reading is one of my favourite stories of the bible, the Samaritan woman at the well. I mean, any time Jesus interacts with women I automatically pay a bit more attention because it's just something that was unheard of. Something else to be noted that is that because she was Samaritan alone was a reason for a Jewish person not to speak to her. Right off the bat, from a cultural stand point of the time she had two strikes against her. Now, take a look at when she was at the well - noon. Most women of the time would go to the well in the morning for a couple reasons - it wasn't so hot and to socialize with each other. She avoided going to well when others were there at the cost of her personal comfort. She hadn't lived a great life and was now living with a man who wasn't even her husband. You can bet tongues were wagging about her, poor thing. Then she meets Jesus and he tells her about her life. Not only that, he tells her about the living water that she could have. I mean, can you imagine- you're trying to avoid people, and when you come to the well there's Jesus just lounging there looking for a drink, then he tells you about spiritual life and how to be saved. Man, what an experience. When the disciples come back they see Jesus talking to this woman and are all shocked and stuff. Like, come on guys, this is Jesus we're talking about. He doesn't need earthly food to satisfy him. He is fed by the spirit. He is the wellspring of life. Stop worrying about the harvest and start reaping. Isn't that what we, as follower of Christ, should be doing? Sow the good news and bring people to Jesus to gain eternal life. As a result of this encounter with the woman at the well many Samaritans believed. She shed her shame and ran and told people about her encounter. I wish I could do that. Reach out to people that had mocked me and said terrible things about me and share so openly and excitedly about the wonderful new of Jesus. The reading finishes with Jesus healing the Centurion's son. This is an underrated story, I think. I always just gloss over it and I pretty much did today. One thing caught my attention though. Jesus didn't go to the son, and the son was healed. All the centurion did was say he believed and his son was healed. How cool is that! It's kind of like you and me. If we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths, we will be given eternal life. I'm going to be honest. I didn't think a whole lot about today's reading and no passages really jumped out at me like yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I saw that it was the story of the Samaritan woman at the well and I was pretty excited about that. Overall though, I didn't really underline anything, just made some notes along the side as pertained to the cultural history. I didn't find myself rethinking about it during the day, or recalling it to ponder it more. I did however, still bring up John 3:30 and at youth group this evening I could attach the message to that verse so easily. I look forward to Thursday evenings because of our youth group- high school students. I'm one of the leaders. I can be exhausted from work, but when I get there it's like getting a second wind. I genuinely love getting to know the kids and I'm very open about my past with them. Sort of like a - here's how NOT to act testimony. It's an amazing 2 hours of my week and sometimes it can carry me through the week. I love it. One last note about this morning. As I rushed around trying to get ready and realizing that I wouldn't have enough time eat breakfast another coincidence entered the picture. I didn't have to leave my house for an additional half an hour. I was able to have breakfast and head out the door in loads of time. Sorry no pictures this evening. I wrote this post almost past my bed time, or so my iPhone tells me. Join me on this challenge and share your experience. Take some time to go over my previous posts about it and let me know how your days went. I'd love to hear from you.
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AndreaYou know the saying, the grass is always greener on the other side? This is my attempt to find greener grass right where I am in my life.
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