His Gift To You

12 Days of Christmas: Day Four

"If you only knew the gift God has for you, and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water...those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again."  John 4:10, 14

Satisfaction. It's something we all long for. And we seek it. We set goals, and we dream big dreams. We long for relationships that will satisfy our hearts. We socialize and look to others to meet our needs for acceptance, belonging, and companionship. We seek God's approval. We try to be good people. We try to do more and do better. 

But what happens when we don't find what we're seeking, or we do, but it doesn't turn out like we hope? When we make mistakes that set us back. When we get hurt. When others push us away. When we rise to new heights, only to discover it doesn't bring the happiness we were hoping for.

Jesus spoke these words about satisfaction to a woman who was longing for it. We know this by her response: when she received the living water, she had to go into town to tell everyone about it. Why was she at this well at an unbusy time of day? Perhaps it was the best time for her to avoid the watchful stares and whispers of others, or maybe she needed a temporary escape from her unsatisfying, disappointing life.

"Please, sir, give me this water! Then I'll never be thirsty again." (She is still thinking in terms of natural thirst here, but Jesus is about to change that.)

"Go and get your husband," Jesus told her.

"I don't have a husband."

Jesus replied. "You're right! You don't have a husband--for you have had five husbands, and you aren't married to the man you're living with now."  (John 4:15-18)

In offering her "living water", Jesus addresses her emptiness. Her lack of fulfillment. Her desire to please others that had been rejected. Her broken dreams; Your circumstances may be totally different than hers, but can you relate anyway? How would you fill in the blank, "I don't have______."?

"If you only knew the gift God has for you, and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water..."

I don't know what your empty places are, but you do, and so does Jesus. And empty places aren't empty. They are filled with sadness, pain, anger, guilt, fear, frustration, or loneliness.  Jesus wants to meet you at your well of brokenness and fill it with something else: His love, His forgiveness, His presence, and His peace. That's His gift to you this Christmas season and always.

"Everyone who asks, receives."  (Matthew 7:8)

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.  All rights reserved.

Woman at the Well by Carl Heinrich Bloch. Public Domain.