{"id":3413,"date":"2016-08-09T18:58:05","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T00:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3413"},"modified":"2016-08-09T18:58:05","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T00:58:05","slug":"accommodated-or-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3413","title":{"rendered":"Accommodated or Changed"},"content":{"rendered":"

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…\u00a0<\/strong>Jesus said, \u201cEveryone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again\u2014ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well<\/span> of water springing up within him for eternal life.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em> \u201cSir,\u201d the woman said to Him, \u201cgive me this water so I won\u2019t get thirsty and come here to draw water.\u201d<\/em> John 4:13-15 HCSB
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

This passage about Jesus conversation with the woman at the well in Samaria is one of the more familiar accounts of Jesus ministry. The whole story has many “cultural” missteps.<\/p>\n

Jesus was in Samaria, which was putting Him and his disciples in somewhat hostile territory. The Jews and Samaritans had been at odds with each other tracing their history back to Old Testament times. Samaria was the capital of the Northern tribes of Israel after the nation divided after the reign of Solomon.<\/p>\n

A woman drawing water from a well in the afternoon instead of the morning, would have indicated she was an outcast that was not viewed with favor by the other women in the town. Then it was not proper for a Jewish Rabbi to engage a woman (especially one of questionable character) in conversation.<\/p>\n

As Jesus offers this woman, “living water” an interesting perspective arises. The woman views Jesus offer as, “great I won’t have to come to this well and face ridicule and judgment and I can live my life as I please.” But Jesus was not trying to accommodate or support in her current lifestyle, but was offering a new life and a new direction.<\/p>\n

This is seen as he asked for her to bring her husband and then reveals he knows about her past and her present. She had a trail of broken relationships and adulterous living.<\/p>\n

Jesus was offering that which produces eternal life, not an offer to accommodate her current circumstances, “…the water I will give him will become a well<\/span> of water springing up within him for eternal life.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

In the Philippines they say, “no rice, no life.” In the arid regions of the Mideast, “it is no water, no life.”\u00a0 Jesus makes it clear that what water is to physical life, the “water” He offers is essential for spiritual life and a true change of direction and a new life lived through Him.<\/p>\n

As we look at our life, we need to be sure that we are not looking to Jesus and expecting Him to accommodate the “darkness” of our life, but are open to Him redirecting our life into that which will really bring the joy and contentment that we need.<\/p>\n

Meeting Jesus is about change. That happens when we encounter Him for the first time and as we journey with Him through life.<\/p>\n

Prayer for today…<\/strong> “Lord, help us to accept and welcome the change that You want and need to bring to our lives. Let us not be focused on how we can “use You” to stay complacent; especially in actions and attitudes that are not pleasing to You. Thank You, that what You offer changes and sustains us as we journey with You.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…\u00a0Jesus said, \u201cEveryone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.\u00a0But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again\u2014ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d the woman said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3414,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413\/revisions\/3414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}