God meets us where we are today

Who knew that this same year, ushered in with record snowfall, would also spawn such intense heat?  By now, we’re all familiar with the signs of heat-related illness.  Thirst has never looked so good.

The Bible records a conversation between Jesus and a woman over a drink of water that changed her life.  One morning Jesus and His disciples hiked many miles north, from Jerusalem to a town called Sychar.  He was tired and thirsty, but He also constantly cared for others.

The conversation began simply: “Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’” (John 4:7 NIV)

The woman, a Samaritan, was shocked that Jesus, who was Jewish, even spoke to her: Neither group had anything to do with the other.

The conversation quickly pivoted from thirst for water to a relationship with the living God.  Jesus offered the woman “living water,” then explained, “Everyone who drinks this water [from the well] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  (John 4:13-14)

The woman still thought they were talking about water, but Jesus now focused on an issue separating her from God, which she had tried to cover up: she had lived with five men and was now with a sixth. 

Each of us have our attitudes, thoughts, and deeds we seek to hide from others: we know they’re wrong and they separate us from God, who is 100 percent good (that’s what holy means).

 Her issues were brought to light, yet she wasn’t condemned by Jesus.  How could she be right with God?  It wasn’t by following rules or worshiping God in a particular place; rather, Jesus constantly turned their conversation back to faith in Himself, based on who He is. (Read the entire exchange in John 4:4-42.)

We don’t have to figure God out, either, in order to trust Him.  The Samaritan woman misunderstood Jesus several times.  Neither do we have to clean ourselves up before we approach Him: God meets us where we are today, this moment.

Faith in God is mysterious, yet simple: He pursues us, and we respond to Him. How humbling that our Creator desires a relationship with us.  We hear about Jesus— who He is and what He’s done— then we face a decision. 

Many in this woman’s hometown believed in Jesus after hearing her words and listening to Him.  None of them could know He would soon exchange His perfect life for our broken ones when He died on the cross to pay for our all our sins.  They responded to Him in faith, and their relationship with God began.

Thirst prevents us from suffering real health problems in this heat; spiritual thirst signals our need to know God.  That thirst may be how God Himself is approaching us, so we might trust Jesus and have our life changed forever, as this woman’s was. 

Don Baumann is retired pastor at Hilltop Community Church