She Began Telling the People

What a testimony this woman had! She’d arrived at the well to fill her water jar alone, in the heat of the day. By the time she’d ended her exchange with Jesus she was so excited that she even forgot the reason why she’d gone to the well in the first place. She left her water jar behind in her hurry to go and tell the people in her town.

She had something of a reputation – five husbands, and number six wouldn’t even marry her, so no wonder she was alone. I believe the other women would all have rejected her, just as her husbands had done. The last thing she was expecting was to be spoken to by a man, and a Jew at that. Men usually ignored the women in those days, so for Jesus to speak to her in the first place was a surprise. The enmity between the Jews and Samaritans was well-known so the fact that He was Jewish was another big surprise. But then He asked her to give Him a drink out of what would have been an ‘unclean’ vessel. Astonishing! No wonder she was open to listen to Him and talk freely about her circumstances.

We probably don’t have the complete story, but whatever passed between them radically changed that woman. She went back to her town and people could see the difference in her, and they took notice of what she had to say. She’d become the first evangelist.

What do we have to share with others? The best thing is that Jesus has died so we can be set free of our sins and go to heaven, but sometimes that’s a rather difficult concept to grasp, for those outside the Church. But as we walk with Jesus, day by day, we’ll have many other exciting things to share with people. They may be able to see the changes in us – and then we can share what He’s done in our lives. Supposing they say, “Well, if He can do that for you, do you think He could also do it for me?” That would be a wonderful opening for us to lead them to Jesus.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Thank You so much for all that You’ve done in my life, for the many changes that you’ve brought. Please forgive me that I’m sometimes reluctant to share my testimony with others. Please give me a boldness to speak out all the wonderful things that You’ve so generously done for me. In Your precious name I ask it, Amen.