Witness

Witness

The woman left her water jar beside the well and went back to the village and told everyone, “Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

John 4:28-30

How ironic,” we might say, “that Jesus asked the woman at the well for a drink of water!” After all, it was the woman who was really thirsty, right down to the bottom of her heart. She should have been asking Jesus for some of his living water—but she didn’t know who he was yet.

I once asked a gentleman on a London street to take a picture of my husband and me. “Please include the red phone booth behind us in the picture,” I said. “I’m very fond of them.” After the man graciously took our picture, he handed me my camera, saying, “So, you like those red phone booths, do you? My great-great grandfather, Charles Gilbert Scott, was the architect who designed them!”

You can imagine how surprised and honored we felt to meet this descendant of such a famous English architect. When we returned home, I enjoyed telling the story to family and friends. My only regret was that I didn’t think to ask Mr. Scott if we could take his picture in front of the phone booth!

As a result of that experience in London, I can better appreciate the excitement of the woman at the well when she discovered that she was talking to Christ. Here was someone she’d been waiting for her whole life. It’s no wonder that she asked her friends to come and meet him too.

Father,

Please give us courage and spontaneity in sharing what you have done for us with others who don’t yet know you. In the name of Jesus, amen.