Reflect today on the undeniable thirst that is within you

“Come see a man who told me everything I've done. Could it be Christ? "John 4:29

This is the story of a woman who met Jesus at the well. She arrives at the well in the midst of the midday heat in order to avoid the other women of her city for fear of meeting their judgment on her, since she was a sinful woman. At the well she meets Jesus. Jesus speaks with her for a while and is deeply touched by this casual but transforming conversation.

The first thing to note is that the very fact of Jesus who spoke to her touched her. She was a Samaritan woman and Jesus was a Jewish man. Jewish men did not speak to Samaritan women. But there was something else that Jesus said that affected her deeply. As the woman herself tells us, "She told me everything I did".

She was not only impressed by the fact that Jesus knew all about his past as if he were a mental reader or a magician. There is more to this meeting than the simple fact that Jesus told her all about his past sins. What really seemed to touch her was that, in the context of Jesus who knew everything about her, all the sins of her past life and her broken relationships, she still treated her with the utmost respect and dignity. This was a new experience for her!

We can be sure that he would experience a sort of shame for the community every day. The way he lived in the past and the way he lived in the present was not an acceptable lifestyle. And he felt ashamed of it which, as mentioned above, was the reason he came to the well in the middle of the day. He was avoiding others.

But here was Jesus. He knew everything about her, but he still wanted to give her living water. He wanted to quench the thirst he felt in his soul. As he spoke to her and as he experienced his sweetness and acceptance, that thirst began to subside. It began to be extinct because what we really needed, which we all need, is this perfect love and acceptance that Jesus offers. He offered it to her and offers it to us.

Interestingly, the woman went away and "left her water jar" near the well. In fact, she never had the water she came for. Or you? Symbolically, this act of leaving the water jar at the well is a sign that his thirst has been quenched by this encounter with Jesus. He was no longer thirsty, at least spiritually speaking. Jesus, the Living Water, satiated.

Reflect today on the undeniable thirst that is within you. Once you are aware of it, make the conscious choice to let Jesus satiate him with the Living Water. If you do, you too will leave behind the many "cans" that are never satisfied for a long time.

Lord, you are the Living Water that my soul needs. I can meet you in the heat of my day, in the trials of life and in my shame and guilt. May I meet your love, your sweetness and acceptance in these moments and that love will become the source of my new life in you. Jesus I believe in you.