Daily Devotional For Monday, September 28, 2026

Good morning Southside! I am following the One Year Chronological Bible reading suggestion and any Bible verses you see highlighted in bold (ex. John 3:16), means it is a link to that verse. All you have to do is click on the reference and it will take you to the verse online. Our daily devotional reading for today comes from two stories in the Gospel of John: John 3:1-21 and John 4:1-38. Both stories are about two people who should have had nothing to do with Jesus. One Nicodemus, was curious about this new young Rabbi named Jesus and the second, was a Samaritan woman, who was curious about water she could drink that would forever quench her thirst.

Jesus knew how to get people’s attention. He was a master communicator. He would take deep theological truth and break it down so that a little child could understand it. He knew that truth not understood is not truth that can set us free. Jesus knew how to use things in the environment and His surroundings as tools to teach God’s truth. Let’s look at Nicodemus first.

Nicodemus is like so many people in the church. He grew up in a synagogue as most church members grew up in church. Nicodemus had 3 attributes that blocked his relationship to God. First, He was a Pharisee John 3:1a) , which means he had studied the Old Testament so much his whole life was driven and determined by it. Second, he was “a ruler of the Jews” (John 3:1b). This means he was a part of a group of 70 men who sat on the Sanhedrin – the Jewish Supreme Court. Third, he was a teacher in Israel (John 3:10). This means he was a great teacher of the Old Testament Law and the Old Testament. People loved to come to him and hear him teach God’s Word to them. 

But for all practical purposes, even with these 3 attributes, something was missing in his life. And he could not quite put his finger on it. He was battling the thought of, “Religion and religious activities do not satisfy the hunger of the soul. I need something more.” So, he had this encounter with Jesus that would forever change his life. He learned from Jesus there is a difference between religion and regeneration. There is a BIG difference between being born in the church and being born again in Christ. 

I have known people who go from church to church, getting baptized and then rebaptized, thinking that would satisfy their soul and change their heart and their sinful lifestyles. I have known young people in the church whose philosophy of life is this: “Live fast, play hard, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse!” Jesus does not want anyone, especially the young, to be a “dead man walking” spiritually. Jesus said this in John 10:10b, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (NASB). Nicodemus was a “dead man walking” spiritually and in the church, there are many in the church like Nicodemus. They have a religious curiosity intellectually but not a changed and converted heart spiritually. 

Our second story involves a Samaritan woman in John 4:1-38. When we come to this story, John says this in John 4:4, “And He had to pass through Samaria” (NASB). To any Jew reading this in Judah, they would have been appalled. Why? The Jews in the South, in Judah, considered the Jews in the North as idolatrous half-breeds, religiously confused and morally debased  – who had ethnically polluted their Jewish (Abrahamic) blood with the blood of Assyrian blood when Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom between 730-700 BC. These Jews and intermarried with the Assyrians and were considered to be contaminated. To avoid this contamination, Jews in the South traveling from Judah to Galilee, would choose to cross the Jordan River to the East and walk north to Galilee so that their feet would not even get a speck of contaminated Samaritan soil on them.

Women typically came to draw water at the city well early morning when it was cooler. For this lady to come by herself at the hottest part of the day implies that she was experiencing social alienation by the other women in her village for her lifestyle choices. For most women who came to draw water, their jug or jar would hold 5 gallons of water and when filled, would weigh 40 pounds if you had the weight of the jar with the water. 

One of the attributes about Jesus I love is that it was His custom to break the traditions of His day. He “had to pass through Samaria” in order to redeem and regenerate this woman and her whole village. Their souls were more important than any church tradition or religious rules. You know this story and how this Samaritan woman is SHOCKED that Jesus, a Jew, is at the well attempting to have a conversation with her. Why? Jews and Samaritans hated one another. And though this lady attempts to rebuff Jesus, Jesus appealed to her six times:

• Jesus appealed to her kindness (4:7), and the woman responded defensively (4:9).
• Jesus appealed to her curiosity (4:10), and the woman responded sarcastically (4:11–12).
• Jesus appealed to her spiritual need (4:13–14), and the woman focused only on physical needs (4:15).
• Jesus appealed to her personal interest (4:16), and the woman responded with a half-truth (4:17).
• Jesus appealed to her conscience (4:17–18), and the woman raised a controversial issue (4:19–20).
• Jesus appealed to her will (4:21–24), and the woman tried to delay any decision (4:25) – (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Bible Commentary, “John,” p. 90.

This woman had lived a hopeless and life of hardship (John 4:16-18). She had gone from husband to husband attempting to fill the spiritual void in her life. Whereas Nicodemus used religion to attempt to fill his spiritual void, this Samaritan woman used relationships to fill her spiritual emptiness. She pulls out every trick she has to get Jesus off topic and our Lord graciously pulls her back to the main topic – her soul. In the end, she invites her whole village to meet Jesus. 

She is really the first human evangelist in the New Testament. She was a half-breed, religiously confused and morally debased Samaritan woman who was the first to introduce anyone to the Messiah and Savior of the world. I love what John 4:40-41 says, “When her village came out to see Him, they begged Him to stay in their village. So He stayed for two days, (41) long enough for many more to hear His message and believe” (NLT). I imagine that Jesus’ disciples were sweating being in Samaria but He was teaching them a major lesson – salvation is for everyone and anyone who will respond to it.

Reflection Assignment: Who in your life do you know is like this Samaritan woman – religiously confused and morally debased? Are you willing to share the “Living Water” with them? Are you put off by prejudice or bigotry in sharing the Gospel with others who are not your ethnic group? Are you like Nicodemus, so consumed with petty religious mundane activities that you have little or no time to be His evangelist? Do you think you will always have another day to share with someone? So, as a procrastinator, you resort to inaction to presume upon tomorrow while death reaps more lost people into hell every day. Will you choose this day to act?

Scripture To Meditate On: 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For God says,‘At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.’ Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, it is so easy to let petty, mundane religious activities attempt to fill the spiritual void in my life. I do not want religion. I want regeneration. I do not want to be biased against anyone with the Gospel no matter what their background is. Help me to take You, the “Living Water,” to others just as You did with Nicodemus, a highly religious man and the Samaritan woman, a highly immoral woman. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly