Daily Devotional For Sunday, March 16, 2025
Good morning Southside. It is Sunday. Time to go to worship our Lord with other believers. Last Sunday in worship, we focused on the woman at the well in John 4. Centuries of hatred, resentment, bitterness and prejudice had brewed and stewed. John 4:4 says that Jesus had to go through Samaria. This had to put His disciples in a very uncomfortable situation. John 4:8 says that Jesus had sent His disciples into the city of Sychar to buy food. Talk about feeling threatened and awkward, they had to have these feelings. Jesus intentionally put them in this situation to teach them lessons about the Gospel and evangelism.
When it comes to people in our lives who have either hurt us or harmed us or where years of misunderstandings have tainted their view of us and ours of them, then we have to ask ourselves if we are more about following our Lord in these situations or simply reinforcing the barriers between us and them.
Jesus chose to build a bridge by asking her one simple question in John 4:7, “Please give me a drink of water.” On the surface it may not seem like much, but it was huge. Though Jesus had sized this woman up, her bias led her to misinterpret who Jesus was. Look at her response in John 4:9, “Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans–NASB). Do you sense and feel her bias and prejudice here? Part of her bias is that Jesus has nothing to draw water with (see John 4:11), which means He would have to drink water from her ladle. In this case, Jews believed they were ceremonially unclean. Jesus showed her He was willing even to do this to reach her.
She has walked alone several miles to Jacob’s well in the hottest part of the day to draw water. Women usually came in groups and either in early morning or late afternoon when it was cooler. We learn later from Jesus in the story that she has been married 5 times and is currently living with a man who is not her husband. After a brief conversation she leaves and convinces these other Samaritans who hate Jews to come and talk with Jesus and the outcome was these Samaritans came to Christ.
Part of sharing the Gospel and evangelism is being the first one to take the initiative to reconnect to someone who either hurt you or harmed for one purpose – introducing them to Jesus. What do you think of Vivian Prodan in this story below?:
“Vivian Prodan was born in Communist Romania under the brutal totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceauescu (“Chow-sches-coo”). A place where questioning a government directive could lead to imprisonment, physical torture, and death. The best way to avoid trouble was to remain silent and try to blend in. But Vivian became obsessed with finding the truth. After graduation, she went to law school and became an attorney. Vivian writes:
One evening a client came in to discuss some paperwork. He radiated joy and peace and without thinking, I confessed, “I wish I had your sense of peace and happiness.” He asked, “Do you go to church?” “Yes,” I replied. “On Christmas and Easter. Why?” He said, “Would you like to come with me to my church this Sunday?”
The next Sunday I visited his church. The pastor read John 14:6 “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” I could not believe what I heard. Someone was claiming to be the truth? I felt as though the verses he shared were written specifically for me. For the first time in my life, everything made sense. I accepted the pastor’s invitation to trust in Christ as Lord and Savior. From that moment on, I would dedicate my life to pursuing and speaking the truth, no matter the cost.
Vivian began defending fellow Christians facing imprisonment for transporting Bibles across the Romanian border, sharing their faith, or worshiping privately in their own homes. This quickly made her a target. Many days her tires were slashed. She was kidnapped, bullied, pushed into moving traffic, and beaten by the secret police. However, the greatest test was yet to come.
Late at night my legal assistant peeked into my doorway: “A big man in the waiting room says he wants to discuss a case. That’s all he will tell me.” I was taken aback at how enormous he was. As he sat down in front of my desk, a sneer formed at the corner of his mouth. Slowly, he reached into a shoulder holster, drawing a gun.
He aimed his gun at me and said, “You have failed to heed the warnings you’ve been given. I’ve come here to finish the matter once and for all.” I heard a distinctive click. “I am here to kill you.”
I was alone with my killer. And yet, I was not. I began silent, fervent prayers, recalling God’s promises. His Spirit breathed peace into my panicked heart. Then I sensed his message: “Share the gospel.” I knew that behind those hate-filled eyes he had an immortal soul, and he needed to know about the love God has shown in Jesus Christ. At once emboldened, “Have you ever asked yourself: Why do I exist? or What is the meaning of my life?”
He slid his gun back into the holster. Vivian leaned forward. “You are here because God put you here, and he has put you to a test. Will you abide in God or in the will of a man—President Ceauescu?” His eyes softened.
Hebrews 9:27 says, “People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” But the good news is that God has prepared a way out for every one of us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
As she continued to talk with him, he appeared more peaceful. Finally, he said, “You are right. The people who sent me here are crazy. I do need Christ.” He promised, “I will come to your church as a secret brother in Christ. I will worship your powerful God.”
And with that, my killer walked away saved—a brother in Christ. He went on to enroll in seminary, and we have even kept in touch. He, like me, had found the Truth. And neither of us will be afraid to speak it ever again.” (Source: Virginia Prodan, “Becoming a Christian Almost Got Me Killed,” CT magazine, October, 2016), pp. 111-112).
The story I shared with you does seem to have a happy ending, as the story in John 4, but for many Christians, this is not the case. It all comes down to obedience and faithfulness.
Questions To Consider
- John says that Jesus had to go through Samaria with His own disciples and other Jews intentionally avoided Samaria. Who have you been avoiding but you need to go to them in spite of the hurt and harm they caused you just as Jesus went to this Samaritan woman? When will you do this?
- What are you willing to risk to reconnect to this person to share the Gospel?
- The story I gave you had a happy ending, but what does it tell you about Vivian Prodan and what does it tell you about yourself?
- What thirsts do you need Jesus to quench in your own life and why?
Scripture To Meditate On: John 4:13-14, “Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; (14) but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life’” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, thank You for reaching out to this Samaritan woman at that well. Please help me to reach out to those who are biased against me or who have hurt/harmed me. Lord, I do not want them to go to hell. Please use me and open a door for me to reach out to them. I love You Lord for reaching out to me with the Gospel and salvation. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly