Keeping it real…for our future
March 8, 2023
Students in need receive snack packages
March 8, 2023
Thirst no more
By Jemma Redman
In this Sunday’s gospel (Jn 4:5–42) Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman, with whom the Jews did not fraternise. Yet, Jesus, the Son of God, sits at the well and talks to her!
Beyond race, gender, background, social status, Jesus was not concerned about upsetting the status quo, He met her right where she is. He meets us in whatever state and condition we are in, when we allow Him to come into our lives, into our sometimes-messy situations.
He knew beforehand that the woman needed an out, that she was thirsting for a life change, living with a man, who is not her husband and previously she had five husbands.
The core of the gospel message today is that you must be thirsty. You have to thirst for a life change, you have to be sick and tired of trying it your way because it has not been working. You are dry.
So here it is that she is going again to the well to do what she has always done, trying the temporary thing, going to get a fix, to try and quench her thirst…but this time Jesus shows up.
Sometimes you have been praying and waiting, and just when you are about to give up, Jesus shows up.
Matthew 6:8 says that our Father knows what we need, before we ask Him. Where are you today during this Lenten season? Are we in that relationship with God? Are we tired with trying things our way and it has not been working? If Jesus can come to the Samaritan woman, He can come to you, in your time of need. Invite Him to come and help you in whatever areas of your life that is beyond you being able to fix it.
The woman did not know that Jesus knew everything about her, but when asked by Jesus, how many husbands do you have, she was honest and transparent with Him.
This showed faith and trust, which allowed Jesus to offer her His water, of which He said, that she will never thirst again. His living water will become in her a spring welling up, filling her up, to eternal life. What a deliverance! What a healing and a promise for all of us.
Once we accept Jesus, He fills us up. He quenches our thirst for love, peace, joy, abundance. He becomes our counsellor, our wonderful, our Mighty God, our Everlasting Father, our Prince of Peace….our all in all.
Jemma Redman is founder of Spirit Global, a spiritual support non-governmental organisation called ‘to walk with men and women’. She is the Artistic Director of The Drama Ministry for the Southern Vicariate, and for St Mary Magdalene RC Church, Houston, Texas.
Photo by Amritanshu Sikdar on Unsplash
