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We are all on a journey of life; each one unique. Yet each person’s life journey weaves in and out of the journey of others, connecting and forming relationships and intermingling knowledge and experiences. Who are the people you meet? How do they inform your life? Do you form relationships with them, or are they interwoven in your life for a brief moment? And where do you see God in the connections with others? Where do you see God on your journey? How does this effect who you are, whose you are, and God’s purpose for you and your journey? Do we even recognize our Lord when he meets us in our everyday lives?
In John 4, we meet a Samaritan woman who was performing the normal everyday chore of getting water from the well. She certainly wasn’t expecting this to be an out of the ordinary experience, yet it was. A man, a Jewish man was sitting by the well. This woman knew the rules, Jewish and Samaritan did not mix; also men and women did not converse in public. Two reasons to avoid speaking with someone, to simply go about our business; yet this man, spoke to her! A Jewish man asked a Samaritan woman to draw water for him from the well. Shocked she asked him why he was speaking to and making this request of her. This man told her that if she knew who she was talking to, she would ask him for a drink and he would give her living water and would never thirst again. This Samaritan woman stepped out of her comfort zone, bypassed the social customs of the day and continued to speak to the Jewish man to inquire about this living water, and to request that he give it to her.
How often do we miss the connections with others that we meet on our journey of life? How often do we miss connecting with our Lord because we label a person “other,” “outsider, or “different from ourselves. And in refusing to acknowledge and speak to another, are we missing the opportunity to speak to our Lord? This Samaritan woman at the well was speaking with Jesus; Jesus the incarnate God!
In this interchange at the well about 2000 years ago we can see and hear that God was not just for a select population, that God speaks to all of us, no matter what our position in life might be. There is no “other” in God’s eyes; we are ALL God’s children. Jesus has clearly made this point when he reveals who he is to this Samaritan woman using the I AM statements that reveal him as God…crushing the social norms by inviting her into relationship and as one of his followers.
As you journey through Lent, take time to look for the places where the Lord meets you, take time to reflect and pray on the goodness of our Lord, take time to truly look at others, taking off the labels you have placed on them. Make room for those moments when we are inspired and awed by God’s work and Word in our lives.
May God bless you as you journey into a closer relationship with Jesus the Messiah and Lord of life.