OPENING SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 44:3-4

For I WILL POUR OUT WATER TO QUENCH YOUR THIRST  and to IRRIGATE YOUR PARCHED FIELDS. And I will POUR OUT MY SPIRIT on your descendants, and MY BLESSING on your children. They will THRIVE LIKE WATERED GRASS, LIKE WILLOWS ON A RIVERBANK. (Isaiah 44:3-4 NLT)

In John Chapter 4, Jesus addresses this thirst by making a 67 mile journey on foot just to deliver a drink of water to a person.

³ So he (Jesus) left Judea and returned to Galilee. ⁴ HE HAD TO GO THROUGH SAMARIA ON THE WAY. ⁵ Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. ⁷ Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”

• Now that’s a 67 miles journey and 4-5 days of walking
• But here Apostle John makes a strong statement: “He had to go through Samaria”
• Jesus was not going to allow political, religious and even racial differences stand in His way
• Jesus was there at the well to address that woman’s thirst. She was thirsty for the truth!

“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.” (John 4:10 NLT)

• Jesus was saying: I am the well of life!

I believe if Jesus Himself was standing here right now, He would ask you this question:

1. ARE YOU THIRSTY? LET GO OF YOUR DIFFERENCES

CAN WE STAND UP RIGHT BY THE WELL OF LIFE AND STILL MISS GOD? Absolutely! All we have to do is to focus our attention on everything else that divides us.

• The bottom line is that the enemy wants you miss the well of life
• Have you ever thought about this? Why did Jesus pick a well as the meeting place?
• A well is a place of gathering. A well is a source of life. A well controls the lifestyle of the people. Cities are built based upon access to a well.
• Isn’t that amazing that God meets us at the place of our most important need- thirst

STATEMENT: The place where God meets us is always a place of unity

• Jesus knew about differences between Jews and Samaritans, but He found something that they can all agree on: THIRST!

“Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. ¹⁴ 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.” (John 4:13,14 NLT)

• Jesus was saying to her: Would you let go of your differences and drink from the well?
• How many times do we allow similar barriers to stand in the way of the well?

2. ARE YOU THIRSTY? LET GO OF YOUR PAST

• The fact that she came alone and noon to the well signifies that she was an outcast. Fetching water in those days was a group activity.
• Not only an outcast in Israel, but also an outcast by her own people!
• She was marked by her own people to be immoral

 “Go and get your husband,” and to which she replied “I have no husband”; and Jesus responded: “You are right!”

• She was married 5 times and the 6th man was not her husband

STATEMENT: THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH BRINGS OUT THE PAST BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH SETS YOU FREE FROM THE PAST

• Jesus was not condoning her past but rather was challenging her to repent and let go of the past
• How many of us have a past? How many times do we allow our past to rob us of the well?

3. ARE YOU THIRSTY? LET GO OF OUR PLACE OF COMFORT

Many of us are thirsty for God but our place of comfort is stopping us from going deeper.

²¹ 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.

²³ 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. ²⁴ For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

(John 4:21, 23, 24 NLT)

• The word truth here comes from the Greek word: Aletheia which denotes truth that must be drawn from a deep of your soul… Like from the well of life!
• AS LONG AS YOU ARE DRAWING FROM THE WELL, YOU WILL REMAIN THIRSTY FOR GOD!

“The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, ²⁹ “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did!” (John 4:28-29 NLT)

• She could not keep her thirst for truth to herself. She had to share it with others.

CONCLUSION

• What is the Holy Spirit speaking to you through this message?