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Weekly Devotional

November 5, 2012

God’s Peace be with you all.

John 4:5-14   ⁵ So Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.  ⁶ Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.  ⁷ A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."  ⁸ (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)  ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)  ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."  ¹¹ The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?  ¹² Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?"  ¹³ Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,  ¹⁴ but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."

            As I mentioned at church yesterday, this week is really busy for all of us.  It seems as though this year we have not slowed down at all.  Many of you have been hard at work on lots of projects for the congregation.  I know that you all are also tired and are in need of a break. 

            When I am tired, I tend to come back to the passage above.  This passage reminds me that I am human, and that no matter how much I am going through, things could be (what I perceive to be) worse.  For example:  I could have to walk everywhere I go.  I could have to wear sandals instead of tennis shoes (that actually sounds like an ok thing to me!).  I could have to depend on finding food and water wherever I go as opposed to just running out to the grocery store.  I could be forced to communicate with people I am not supposed to.   I am thankful I do not have to go through all those things, and I am reminded that Jesus did go through those things.  I am reminded that even though the Gospel portrays Jesus as tired, he did not stop going.  Instead, his ministry continued (really to the point of death).  Furthermore, I am reminded that in those moments when I am tired, I can give thanks for the refreshment and nourishment that only comes from God. 

Each week we come to the table to receive the living body and blood of Christ.  Each week we get refreshed by God’s grace.  Each week we are reminded that our sins are forgiven.  I know that ministry can be hard sometimes, but I also know (and as I preached yesterday) that whatever the situation may be, God is involved.  Look to him for refreshment and nourishment, as what he gives will not just give you your fill today, but will fill you eternally.

In our prayers this week:  Gere, Ann, Jim A., Jerry V., Bobby, Charles, Mike C.

God’s Peace,