Time to LIsten

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, “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.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  (John 4:7-14)

A follower of Christ is one who is an imitator of Him, and as such, John 4 is an important lesson. As Solomon notes, there is a "time to keep silence, and a time to speak...." (Ecclesiastes 3:7).

There are times we speak, and there are times we listen. 

Christ does both simultaneously in this passage and continues to the end of the chapter. He stops and seeks an interaction while his disciples go further into town. It is almost as though he was looking to spread his message further as he stops and seeks a drink of water. The woman, a Samaritan, is someone who Jews typically didn't interact with. She notes this immediately, but she doesn't say, "No." Christ continues in the interaction with an enticing piece of information, "living water."

Each response builds on the last. In the end, he reveals who he is to her and then she is fully engaged. After verse 14, he acknowledges a certain fault of hers ("married five times and the man you now live with is not your husband"). In the end, the passage notes that many Samaritans in that town believed in him.

The passage is a master class from Christ on speaking and listening. From a simple request, to a revelation of eternal life, to a revelation on her life, to an introduction to the Messiah, Christ teaches us how to seek opportunities to speak of faith, to inquire and listen further, to speak more deeply, and to listen more intently.

If you are like me, you probably break into sweats when asked to share your faith with a stranger. I have learned over time that a phrase I've learned is very true: "Mission happens at the speed of relationship."

I have a couple of stories where that phrase has rung true. I'm sure you do as well. As learners, Christ instructs us through his Word. As teachers, we disciple others around us. As followers of Christ, we listen and speak intentionally by following him and his lessons.

Pray with me: Gracious Father, you put opportunities in my path daily. Help me to learn to seize the moment, and that creating a relationship is the best form of sharing your good news to someone. In Christ's name, Amen.