Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
March 6, 2023
Read John 4:7-14
7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food. 9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.) 10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”
Good Morning, Jesus offers us living water!
Jesus is the source of all we require. Most of us spend much time and energy in pursuit of things. We work to create/garner the best thing: the best bowl of chili, the best hair-do, the best house, the best job . . . The list is endless. I smile when I think of the quests in my life.
How do you feel when you acquire the best? Are you satisfied, or do you start looking for a new best? I think that when we pursue these earthly treasures, our appetites can never be sated. We are always left wanting more.
Only through Christ will we find the “best” we desperately seek. Jesus doesn’t hide his light, but we can manage to block it out with our endless lists of things. If you have a big enough pile of stuff, it is hard to see what is waiting on the other side of the pile. When we begin to cast away those things in the pile, the light begins to become visible. It is hard at first because we become so attached to these things. We think, “I worked hard for this, I can’t let that go.”
Yesterday, we studied Nicodemus: a learned man, a devout man, and a seeker. He had it all in regard to earthly treasure, yet he still sought answers from Jesus. Eventually, he cast away his titles, prestige, and wealth so that he could see and accept what Jesus was offering to him.
It is time to throw out those best things so that we have room for the “best” things that Jesus is offering to us: living water, truth, love, grace, eternal life, peace, joy, and hope. What a great shopping list! The great thing is that they are offered to us freely in exchange for our acceptance and faith.
Gracious God, Thank You for being with us. You bless us. Open our eyes and let us see what is before us. Thank you! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: When I feel a void in my life, I will seek God’s abundant love to fill it.
Accept the living water! Pastor Liz
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