The path no one wants to walk

Intro:
Listening to God and communing with Him is such an adventure isn’t it?!

Opening Prayer:
I woke this morning Lord with the sound of one birdsong. It was so crystal clear. So welcoming and refreshing. Then I heard the relentless waves as they rolled ashore.

Jesus it reminds me of your crystal clear call amongst the busyness of life. The relentless pull of other things away from you.

But right now Holy Spirit, I choose to listen to you. Like the birdsong, which is joined by a chorus of other birds heralding the morning. I choose to listen to you, Holy Spirit.
Speak to me today, I pray.

Amen.

Bible verse –
“So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” ““Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.””
‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭3-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Reflection –
Jesus had to pass through Samaria. This verse speaks of an imperative. But geographically and practically doing this from Judea to Galilee, that didn’t make sense. Jews avoided Samaria. Jews weren’t supposed to be seen with Samaratin’s. Especially, Jewish men weren’t to be seen with Samaratin women.
But Jesus knew the clear birdsong, the clarion call of His Father’s voice, crystal clear by the Holy Spirit, to pass through Samaria.

Why? Because the Father had one of his children needing to hear of his love and forgiveness.

Jesus’ heart went out to the woman at the well.

The middle of the day was hot. Nobody was supposed to be there. But Jesus was there when the woman thought she’d be all alone. And meeting with Jesus transformed her life.

Do you hear the clarion call of the Holy Spirit? Do you feel the compassion and love which Jesus showed to the woman at Jacob’s well? Despite the relentless noise of the waves all around you, do you hear the gentle call of the Spirit drawing you near to Jesus. He’s calling you to a time of refreshing. To experience life giving water. Drink from the presence of the Holy Spirit by listening to his voice and you will be transformed this morning.

And then you can once again respond with His compassion as His voice calls clearly again to you.

Prayer –
Thank you Jesus that you go where others will not. You aren’t limited by convention of how someone should behave to please others. You follow your Father’s will. You listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to you, listening to where to go and who to speak with.

Help me Jesus to do the same. The older couple who needed a steadying arm when walking back after departing from the hotel where they’d been drinking. The young people on the beach seeking to discover their way in life. The resort owner who needed guidance and a listening ear.

All around me Jesus, people need to drink from the life giving water. All need me to be refreshed so that I can refresh others.

Help me Jesus to listen to your voice amongst all the noise, to listen to you alone and to do your will reaching out to each person around me you love, just as you love me.

Amen.