“Amelia keeps taking the stopper out and the water is almost gone!” Thomas announced, sounding none too pleased. Temperatures in the eighties meant I could finally say yes to the constant pleas to play water table outside. “Can we add soap bubbles?” Amelia had asked as I headed back into the kitchen to refill the pitcher with water a second time. “Sure!” I responded, thinking all the while I’d be killing two birds with one stone. Having wintered on the porch, the play table was a little grungy and in need of a good scrubbing. Thomas, the oldest of the bunch, knows the rule. We play until the water is gone and the three kids were barely five minutes in, Ezra still napping, when Amelia decided it would be fun to pull the drain plug.
“You know the rule, Amelia. Are you finished playing water?” I asked, already knowing her answer. “The boys are not ready to be done yet and I don’t think you are either. I’ll bring out a little more water and we’ll be sure to save some for Ezra too.” As I added another pitcher of water to the table, several images flashed through my mind simultaneously. One woman by a well, lost in conversation with Jesus. Another kneeling at his feet, face soaked with tears. Two widows, one of Israel, one in Sidon, both raising sons alone. As water flowed from my pitcher into the play table, I offered my thanks to One who daily meets me where I am with His perfect provision.
“We’ll have to leave by seven to be home in time for my doctor’s appointment,” Caroline confided. She and her husband are expecting our fifth grandchild in September. I try to coordinate schedules with my girls as often as possible. Inevitably there are things no one can anticipate, stomach bugs for example. Plans shift and then shift again. Rather than bemoaning my predicament, I am learning to thank God for the shifts. I have seen Him move in mysterious ways too many times to question. His incredible faithfulness squelches my need to understand. When I cannot find the proper words, His suffice. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
“He had to go through Samaria on the way. (from Judea to Galilee) Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.
Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
“I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”
Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!”
The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”
Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe.
Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.””
John 4:4-26, 28-29, 39-42 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.4.4-41.NLT
When I am at my wits end, my temptation is to shut down. A vacant stare replaces an otherwise engaging smile. I can make conversation with almost anyone but when I’m exhausted and struggling to think straight, I confess it is difficult to imagine having anything of eternal significance to offer. Jesus, as He sat wearily beside a well of water in the desert heat, started a simple yet intentional conversation with a woman many would ignore and who likely preferred to be ignored. “Please give me a drink,” He asked, knowing all along that her need was greater and that He was all she really needed. When I am focused on my own lack, I forget that I am only a beggar who has found an endless source of bread choosing to share the wealth.
“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.
When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.
Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”
Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.””
Luke 7:36-50 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.7.36-50.NLT
What is your most treasured possession? Let me rephrase that. Who would you lay down your life for without a second thought? What would you risk in the name of Love? I am self conscious by nature but God has chiseled away many of my excuses over the years. I often see reflected in my grandchildren the reckless abandon that God desires of His children. “I yuv hugs,” Timothy announced as he flung himself at his mom. He had already knocked me off balance a handful of times and when his mom came in from the kitchen, he launched himself in her direction, joy written all over his face. When Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven,” do I respond with half as much zeal? I should. Things would shift dramatically if I laid aside my inhibitions and loved like Jesus.
“Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”
So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?”
As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.” But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”
But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son.
For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”
So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.”
1 Kings 17:8-16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1ki.17.8-16.NLT
Why is making a grocery list so taxing? We have too many choices for starters. I did not realize how accustomed I had become to cooking for two. Of course I have planned the occasional meals when all the kids are home for a visit but now, double the adults and add in two toddlers and my staples have shifted. My girls are quick to offer to get the groceries and I will gladly trade childcare for shopping any day and I’m eating better than ever. Ain’t God good?
“One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”
“What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”
“Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.
And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”
So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons.
“There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.
When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.””
2 Kings 4:1-7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2ki.4.1-7.NLT
“Poon?” Ezra repeated again and again. It took me a minute to realize what he meant. I had added bath toys to the tub in the guest room where he and his sister get ready for bed. His favorite is still the pair of plastic spoons. He stirs and scoops bubble foam contentedly and now that he’s potty training, he thinks every time he uses that bathroom that it’s time for his bath. If he came knocking on your door asking for a “poon,” what would you say?
“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.
This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.
He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan.
And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.
Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.
And now you have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.
The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”
Ephesians 1:5-11, 13-14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.1.5-14.NLT
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.
By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.
And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him.
For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
Hebrews 10:19-25 NLT
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