Who is Jesus Inviting You to Become?
Week Four: Unmasking Your Motives
“Sir,” the woman said to him, “give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.” (John 4:15)
Last week, we looked at verses 11-12, where the unnamed Samaritan woman questioned Jesus about where he was going to get this ‘living water’ without a bucket. Her questions beautifully moved her closer to the thirst that Jesus wanted her to discover that was holding her back from the relationship she needed the most.
“Sir,” said the woman, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’? You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.” (John 4:11-12)
The Samaritan woman thought Jesus was talking about physical water. Jesus’ response advances the conversation even further. Today we will look at verses 13-15. We will see that we are in many ways whether single or married like the woman at the well.
Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
The woman was intrigued. The offer for the living water was the answer to all her problems. She said, “give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.” (John 4:15)
Some people seek Jesus for what He can do for them. For many, Jesus is merely a means by which he will give them the desires of their hearts. But our motives are never hidden from Jesus.
Jeremiah 17:10 says, “But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”
What is your motive for following Jesus?
Does it have anything to do with who Jesus is inviting you to become?
Was the woman at the well more interested in what Jesus could do for her than what Jesus wanted to be for her?
Make a list of three things that people ask you to do for them.
1.
2.
3.
Have you ever felt like a “To Do” List? Describe the circumstance when you did.
How is what you do different from what you want to be to them?
Lydia Brownback writes in Finding God In My Loneliness, “…could it be that we don’t know Jesus as our living water because we’ve been looking to him to make our man into living water? The Samaritan woman had her sights set on what she wanted Jesus to do for her rather than what he wanted to be for her. “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” The living water Jesus gives is not about improving our love life. It’s about something so much deeper and richer and more satisfying. It is thirst quenching in a way that the love of a man—even the best, most godly man—can never, ever be.”
The woman at the well was all in for what Jesus offered. She still understood the living water as water that she can drink. But her motives for wanting the living water was becoming unmasked.
Whether single or married, has the love of a man become your living water? Or have you discovered that you have a pattern for making a man your living water in past relationships?
The unnamed Samaritan woman knew that water drawn from the well can satisfy for only a short time. She knew that she wanted to avoid the trouble of coming to the well in the heat of the day. She knew that she wanted water that would quench her thirst forever so she will never have to come here to the well again.
If we look closely, there is a key word that the woman said in verse 15 that gives us a glimpse of the why behind her motives.
It is so that she wouldn’t have to “come here to draw water.”
We all have a here.
It’s the place we thought would make us happy and satisfied, only to find ourselves coming back time and time again to quench our thirst—even if only temporarily.
It’s the place that we’ve tried to hide our thirst—even in broad daylight by distancing ourselves from others—even from those in our inner circle.
It’s the place that we feel the depth of our pain because it is associated with the well—even though we try to ignore it.
It’s the place that we were never meant to be, but it is more comfortable and convenient than taking up our cross and following Jesus.
But today your here can be the place where you can drink from the living water and never get thirsty again.
Write out John 6:35.
Dear Jesus: You see the motives of our hearts, yet you still love us. We thought our own version of living water would make everything be all right in our lives. Only to find that you alone are the One for whom our thirst was made for. Purify our motives Jesus. We are longing for the kind of water that springs up in us for eternal life and a life made to be used for your Kingdom and not ours.
Want to go deeper in your relationship with Jesus. The waiting list for life coaching sessions for this life-changing series—7 Week Become Journey—will open up again the end of September.
Book a free 30-minute Clarity Call to discuss how you can quench your thirst with the living water—Jesus Himself.
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Can’t wait to talk with you!
- Debbie