Journey to the Cross

Pause

We are thirsty for many things.

What do you thirst for today? Why do you thirst for this thing?

Might this thing tell of a deeper thirst?

Listen

Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. Many more believed because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this one is truly the savior of the world.”

John 4:39-42

Think

We thirst to know God. Previously in this story, after her encounter with Jesus at the well, the Samaritan woman went to her community and testified about him. She called the people to come and meet Jesus. They left their city to meet Jesus because they longed to know if he was the Messiah. In the end, many came to believe in Jesus by the woman’s testimony, and many more came to believe in Jesus because of what they heard him say.

How can we know who Jesus is if our only knowledge is based on what others tell us or on how we see Christians act? That’s often a start of faith, but at some point, in order to quench our thirst to know God, we have to actually listen to or read Jesus’ words. We have to pick up a Bible and read and inwardly digest it.

The Bible is God’s primary way of revealing God’s self to us. Perhaps we should follow the example of the Samaritans and stay with Jesus awhile by picking up our Bibles and reading from them today.

Kellie Wilson

Pray

God, I thirst to know you, but when I pick up a Bible I find it hard to read and understand. Help me as I read to focus on what you are trying to tell me about yourself, so that I may fully know you and come to believe in you, not because of what others have told me about you, but because of what I have discovered. Amen.

Go

We all thirst for a sense of identity and mission. We thirst to know who we are and what we are called to do.

Ultimately, it is God who tells us we are beloved. This good news is water for our thirsty souls.

Now go and give this water to the thirsty.

Go and let others know they are beloved through your words and actions.