Scratch everything you think about Valentine’s Day. My intent for this new series is to change your perspective on how think this holiday genuinely serves you. You can adapt this thinking on any day or aspect of your life, but since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner may as well throw it all in one series. I know for many of us, of us Valentines day isn’t our favorite holiday, we cringe at the heart shape flooded candy aisle, avoid Instagram like the plague, and desperately hope that at least one girlfriend will invite us to a girls night. I know. On the other hand, we have those who flock to the gram, just happy to try all the new assortments of chocolate, and either has someone to take them out or will take themselves out! I’m definitely that girl. I may or may not have considered sending myself flowers a few years.
Either way, this day brings out a version of ourselves that we are often embarrassed to admit. We hate Valentine’s Day because it reminds us that we aren’t loved the way we want to be loved, OR we obsess over Valentines Day because we’re hanging on to the unusual sense of attention that others give or we give ourselves in the name of this day. Either way, Jesus wants to introduce us to the Holy Spirit who fills us and engulfs us in this type of love every day. Typing that alone stings me a little bit as someone who loves Valentines Day. But this is where we’re hanging out for this series. We’re discussing how we can heal the damaged areas in our lives that have caused us to misplace being loved transparently by Jesus. First, let’s talk about Commitment.
What Jesus Wants. For this entire series, we are covering John 4:1-30. It’s the story of the woman at the well. A quick read, if you aren’t familiar with this text, take a look here. The text tells of a Samaritan woman who had been considered an unclean social outcast because of race, gender, and marital status. But Jesus dismissed that when he asked this “unclean” woman for a drink of water while sitting at the well. The woman who came out at the hottest time of the day to avoid people while gathering water was shocked that Jesus, the rabbi, a male, and Jew, would even speak to her. Not known to her that he was the Messiah, Jesus asked for her “unclean” cup of water and offered her living water that would quench her thirst FOREVA for exchange. She would be replacing her still water from the well with live bubbling spring of water, which was unheard of in Samaria. Jesus wasn’t offering her an actual spring of fresh water, he was metaphorically saying give me your dead thing (still water), and I will give you my Spirit (living water). Jesus wanted to make a deal.
What We Want. The Samaritan woman was both intrigued and confused. She desperately asked Jesus to give her this water that she would never thirst again or have come to the well to gather water again. From the perspective of this woman, I am positive that it was mentally, physically, and emotionally draining to do simple everyday tasks in public, like going to the well to gather water, without being reminded of her status in society. So her plea is understandable, but it is a plea for comfort and not a commitment. She doesn’t ask how or where she can find this water. She just says, give it to me.
Give me this water, so I don’t have to deal with my reality. This woman is so similar to you and me. We often ask God to comfort us in ways that are reserved for those who are committed to him. It sounds like “God, I’ll never do it again if -” or “God, I know we don’t talk much but” or “God knows my heart.” God being gracious, relays it to us anyway but is still waiting for the exchange of when we will truly commit to him. Jesus had not yet revealed to her that he is the Messiah. I believe that is why she responded the way she did. I believe that is why WE respond the way we do. We don’t know Jesus or the value of what he offers us that goes way beyond a God that only comforts. I believe this portion of the text reveals how little our expectation of Jesus is when we genuinely don’t know him. God wants to give you living water to heal your bruised and broken areas for good. No bandages, no crutches, but total healing.
What Works. Commitment to God is the only way this healing can be totally experienced. Some may believe that this idea is a reach. But it only feels that way because we have underestimated the intimacy and promise that the Holy Spirit wants to have with us. You have to be committed to giving over your cup of dead water for his living water. You have to be committed to giving up the thing that temporarily satisfies you for what can satisfy you forever. You have to give up the notion the Christianity or Jesus is only there to get you over your suffering instead of completely healing where you hurt most. This doesn’t have to only apply to relationships only but to our mindsets, our habits – whatever. At the end of this story, this woman was so amazed and filled she could not contain her encounter with the Messiah. But she first had to take Jesus up on his offer, on a cup of water or spring of living water? Dead Water or Living Water? Comfort or Commitment.
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