“But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” John 4:14(NLT)
I am currently in an in-depth study of the gospel of John with BSF online. I am being blessed by each lesson as I answer questions in personal study, discuss the Scripture passage with a group of women eager to learn more about Jesus, listen to insightful teaching, and read notes on the passage provided by a collection of Bible scholars.
Throughout this study I have been struck with the urgency for evangelism. Now I know this word (evangelism) has different meanings to different people, and many have a bad taste in their mouths after the scandals of the late ’80s involving famous televangelists. Evangelism is nothing more than zealous advocacy of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.
My feelings of urgency revolve around personal witness (more to the point-my personal witness). The first instance of this occurred as we studied the story of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. (John 4:1-42)
As many of you are familiar with this story, you may recall that Jesus was traveling from Judea to Galilee. Most Jews would add a day or more to their journey to avoid stepping foot in Samaria, but verse 4 says, “Now He had to go through Samaria.” (NIV – emphasis added)
Why did Jesus have to go through Samaria?
I believe because He had a divine appointment scheduled with this very woman we meet in the story. That got me thinking about all of us who know Jesus as Lord and Savior. We all had divine appointments scheduled with invisible ink in our calendars, and praise be to God, Jesus never misses His appointments!
I was struck by the way Jesus initiated the conversation. He revealed a vulnerability (He was thirsty) and invited her to offer relief. So not threatening! This conversation was remarkable for many reasons. Jesus, a Jewish man, and the woman, a Samaritan, would never have had a socially acceptable reason to talk to each other, but Jesus not only initiated the contact, but also gave the the power position in the interaction. She could choose to comply with His request or deny it. This is true for us as well. Jesus approaches us with an offer of relationship and gives us the choice to accept or reject His offer.
Once the ice was broken, Jesus took the first opportunity to point her toward her need for Him. Jesus spoke truth into her life gently, but without compromise. This is a pattern we can apply to our conversations with people who haven’t yet had an appointment with Jesus. When someone shares a frustration or challenge or sadness they are dealing with, we can point to Jesus as the One with the answers. When we are confronted with the sin in another’s life, we must speak the truth gently, but without compromise, and when we are confronted with the sin in our own lives, we need to hear the truth spoken to us.
When the woman shows interest in what Jesus has to offer, He instead points her to what is in the way of her receiving His gift – her sin. Sin is the condition that restrains us from a fulfilling relationship with God. We identify with our sin (pride). We cling to our sin (addictions). We sometimes even enjoy our sin (if only for a little while). Jesus points out to this woman by the well – and to us – what is blocking our path to peace, joy, and eternal life.
For this woman it was a complicated relationship status. For us…
Whatever “it” is, we have to recognize “it” and repent of “it” before we can move on, The woman by the well was so changed by her encounter of Jesus, she became an instant evangelist! She knew nothing about theology, but she knew what Jesus had done for her. She ran back to town and told everybody “Come see a man who told me all I’ve ever done.” (John 4:29)
She shared her experience with Jesus, and…they came!
Wouldn’t it be great to have a one sentence testimony that invited people to encounter Jesus? I thought so, so I tried boiling my testimony down to one sentence. I came up with: “Let me introduce you to someone who helped me to worry less and trust more.”
If you are a believer, will you consider what your one sentence testimony would be? If you do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus, will you ask God to show you what is blocking your path? If you desire to have that divine appointment with Jesus, let me introduce you…