Are you thirsty?

John 4: 1 - 42

If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink," you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.

'If you only knew what God is offering'......Jesus' own desire shines through this phrase...his desire and longing to give to us the gift of living water. He knows how thirsty we are for what is lasting, just as he could see the need of the Samaritan woman, piercing through the self-confident mask that she put on. Are we thirsty? Are we seeking for the 'something more' that comes with the gift of God's Spirit?

What is God really offering me? I may not be able to see clearly because I see only the surface of things, like the woman who only thought of the well water. Can I see beyond and behind those 'obvious' things that seem so important to me? Perhaps there is more that the Lord wants to offer me. We do need to open our hearts and minds to think and see beyond our usual hopes and plans, to see what the Lord is offering. And as we embrace this gift from the Lord, what difference would it make in our lives? I know that I would like to discern God's hand in all that happens, to recognize his love in people and situations where before, I would not have expected to find him.

The Samaritan woman's eyes were opened to the reality of Jesus as the long awaited Messiah. She shared her testimony with her village folk and they too believed. But more importantly, they were thristy enough to ask Jesus to stay with them. Then they 'heard for themselves' and they 'knew' (it was a knowledge born of personal experience) that Jesus was really the savior of the world. Our thirst will be quenched. The Lord often graciously makes himself personally 'real' to us when we make time and space to be with him for a while, listening with open hearts and minds.