Musings on the Book of John

Value

BY CONNIE HECKER

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” John 4:7-12 (NIV)

The Samaritan responded to Jesus, who asked her to give Him something. He asked her. He asked for something from her. He recognized her as a woman scorned by her own and His own, yet He recognized her value. She had something of value that she could give to Him!

Me? Of value? she may have thought. The concept had never entered her mind before! This moment was a tense one, both racially and culturally. Jesus had initiated contact with her, and it was not to dismiss or abuse her. He was asking her to do Him a favor. She was used to being beneath others, to being ordered around and abused. Yet, in one simple request, she was elevated to the ability to make a choice.

“Will you?” she is asked. Will she?

In shock, she questions His own question. And she is told about an even better choice. By asking something from her, Jesus gave her the opportunity to wonder. To ponder. To ask, How? and Why? To express her surprise. He gave her room to feel and dignity and value to seek truth. Jesus already knew who and what she was. He also knew where He was standing—and He knew the history and significance of that well.

Jesus approached the woman. When she looked at Him, she saw by His dress that He was likely one who thought he was better than her. And perhaps, due to her situation, she felt the same way about herself: an outcast among outcasts. Victimized and abused. With no place to turn. But then Grace appeared and asked her to give Him something.

Am I listening today for what God is asking me to give to Him? No matter how little I may think of myself, there is something of value that I have to give to Him. Am I willing to listen, learn, and give?

When I am in need, I often focus only on my needs. Jesus shows me that my neediness equips me to share the truth and love of the gospel.

I have never enjoyed neediness, sickness, trials, or tribulations. I don’t like asking for help because I don’t want to burden others with my needs. It somehow seems wrong to me. I was taught not to impose myself on others. Yet here, I see Jesus with a physical need, asking for help.

If we, in our time of need, go and ask for help, we, too, could be opening a door to offer spiritual help to others. My physical needs can be an opportunity to bless someone else spiritually.

Who can I turn to in my time of need? And am I willing to be a blessing to others in my neediness?

It is OK to ask.

Jesus had just offered living water to a Samaritan woman. She does not comprehend. How could she? Instead, she observes carefully—a trait her situation in life has trained her well in. The man is a Jew. He is alone. He is thirsty. He is passing through (she must think this odd as Jews usually take the long way around her area to avoid Samaritans). He has nothing to draw water with from the deep, historic well. He is clearly a learned man and must know this history. It’s the only well around. Where is He going to get any other water around here? But what is this “living water” He is talking about?

Do I look at my circumstances and see only the facts of the world, thus remaining clueless as to how Jesus will provide for me—or if He is even able? Do I doubt because I cannot see or understand? If you doubt, go ahead and be like this woman; it IS OK to ask! “Where?” “How?” n What do I not understand today that is holding me back? n What confuses me?

Do I look at Jesus and see only His humanity and not His power? The woman questions His intent. You’re asking me? (v9) The woman questions His resources. Where is your cup? (v11). She questions His authority. You aren’t greater than our father? (v12). And that is OK. That is how questions get answered. Jesus answers in love and power and always to our deepest needs, whether or not we even know what to ask for. His love gives to us first.

• What do I not understand today that is holding me back?

• What confuses me?

Lord, help me to turn to You with my confusion. Give me confidence that You care to answer, so I shall ask, “What is my stumbling block to understanding?”

I have passed this way before, often confronting this very large puddle. When I arrived this time and discovered the stone, my first thought was, What is that? A stumbling block? But then a young woman walking up the steps reached that spot and, without hesitation, put her foot squarely in the center of that big block and continued up the stairs—without any risk of watery shoes. No! It’s a stepping stone. Everything depends on how we look at it.

What things do I find in my life that can be either a stumbling block or a stepping stone? It’s in my power to choose how I will look at every opportunity. How will I look at my challenges this day?

This is also a picture of a “quick fix.” You know, those things we do not have time, money, or head space to deal with? We install a solution and continue to live with it day after day and month after month, putting out the latest crisis in our lives and putting off those needed permanent changes.

Jesus is not a ‘quick fix’.

He is our permanent solution. Ask Him today to be your stepping stone of faith. And then, with confidence, step into His kingdom, His Word, and His truth. And grow and learn.

Connie Hecker, MFA, is a Scenic Designer currently teaching at Liberty University. She is mom, stepmom, and grandmother to 13. Her “first career” was in interior and industrial design. Her “second” was as Manager of Operations and Maneuvers (note initials) in her extended family. Her ‘third’ is as a professor and she looks forward to what God has in store as her “fourth” someday.