Devotion - Thursday, August 26

In John, chapter 4, we find the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. There are so many facets to this story that we seldom have energy left when we get to the final verses. Having discussed the openness of Jesus (Jews did not associate with Samaritans), examining the forsaking of cultural constraints (men of that day would never have spoken to a woman in a public setting), and finally looking at the issues of Jesus admitting that he is Messiah, we stop before we discuss the effect all of this has on the people of the city.

The woman, after her encounter with Jesus, goes into the city to tell everyone, “Come and see the man who told me everything I have ever done.” They go out of the city, to see Jesus.

There are a few more exchanges, a bit of instruction from Jesus, then we get this notation: The people of the city “said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’”

There is a progression here which is repeated many times over. There is a relationship between those who already believe and those who are coming along to see. Those who come along to see eventually believe on their own.

Most of us come to the house of God because of someone else’s beliefs. It may have been a parent or a grandparent or a school friend. We came because someone else had shared with us their excitement over what had happened to them, as they lived among God’s people. At some point, the reason for coming has to change. It has to shift from what someone else told us to that which we have come to know on our own.

This is not an easy shift. And, it often occurs as other things are changing in our lives, too. Like going off to college.

You are reading this humble offering. You have some sense of connection to the message of Jesus. Where is that message rooted? This is not a condemnation of those roots which stretch through the person or persons who first brought you to the places where God’s people assemble. It is encouragement to sit at the feet of Jesus, listen to a few exchanges, hear some instructions, so that you might come to say, “it is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.