When Opportunity Knocks - Jesus And The Samaritan Woman

Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

John 4:6-8

After running some particularly successful ten-cent sales of outdated items, a young hardware store employee approached his boss with a business proposal: open a store that sold only nickel and dime items. The young man said he could run the store if his boss would supply the capital.

“The plan will never work,” his boss said, “because you can’t find enough items to sell at a nickel and a dime.”

Though the young employee was disappointed at the time, he later tried out his idea and made millions. His name was F. W. Woolworth.

Years later, his old boss lamented the fact that he had turned down such a good opportunity: “As near as I can figure it,” he said, “every word I used in turning Woolworth down has cost me about a million dollars.”

Jesus understood the importance of making the best use of every opportunity to preach and teach his message. His encounter with a Samaritan woman is an example.

There was bad blood between Jews and Samaritans, and most Jews avoided traveling through Samaria at all costs. One day, Jesus walked through Samaria with his disciples on the way to Galilee.

Jesus was ready for an opportunity to share his message with the people of Samaria, and that opportunity came as he waited at a well near the Samaritan village of Sychar.

Around noon, a Samaritan woman happened by, and Jesus asked her for a drink of water. An in-depth conversation about who Jesus was and what that meant to her followed his request. Jesus’ words made a lasting impression on this woman, who immediately returned to her village and stunned her neighbors with the news that she had met the Messiah.

Because Jesus made the very best of his opportunity to speak to the Samaritan woman, “many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus” (John 4:39).

Life will present you with opportunities to serve God through serving others. You bless others and yourself when you watch for those opportunities and make the most of them.