Living Water

So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
4-6 To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
7-8A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
9The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."

We need to be thirsty-to feel that need to be satisfied by living water--the water that only can be provided by God through the same Jesus who offered this woman fresh, living water.
I love this story. I love the fact that Jesus spoke to this woman who was so rejected by society--especially the Jews. She had made horrible choices, and everyone knew it. She was the one everyone in town gossiped about, but Jesus spoke to her kindly. He was different while he was here on this earth, and He is different today. He accepts us--even if we are the one people gossip about. He didn't tell this woman, "Go, clean up your life, then come and see me." That's what we always think. I'll quit __________ing, then I'll go to church. Fill in the blank with whatever it is that you do that keeps you from God.
Truthfully, what we need is to be thirsty enough to accept the salvation Jesus offers, then we can work on all that "stuff" that we need to stop doing.
If you can think about what it feels like to be physically thirsty and then you drink a glass of ice water, that what it feels like to be spiritually thirsty and accepting Jesus' salvation. What a relief, what a feeling, what satisfaction.