#MeditationMonday‬ – Out of the abundance of a man’s heart, his mouth speaks.

Beloved, I give thanks to God for the breath of life in you this wonderful day! May the mercies of the Lord accompany you through every trial you encounter this week. It’s valentine season! The season of love. Let us look into the Word of God and see the greatest love of anyone for a Valentine choice!

Webster defines a Valentine as: A sweetheart or choice made on Valentine’s Day.

Today’s #MeditationMonday verse will be looking at a very interesting conversation:

John 4: 1-26 (Selected Verses)

So He (Jesus) came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour (Noon). A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Wells in the bible often indicate relationships. There is an unusual relationship at this well in that not only do Jews hardly ever speak to samaritans but for a Jewish man to talk to Samaritan woman? Never! Women, talk less of samaritan ones were considered second class citizens during the culture of the day. So when Jesus spoke to her, much less asked her for a drink (again from a samaritan vessel, which was probably considered unclean by Jewish law) she would have been in complete shock.

This is how Jesus comes to us, many of us have low self worth, low self-esteem, rejection issues, depression issues, depraved minds etc. We all have things we’ve done that make us feel inferior. Yet Jesus approaches us because He loves us, He earnestly wants to be in conversation with us.

The interest of the samaritan woman: she was thirsty, she secretly longed for love, she was ashamed of her life and didn’t want to be disturbed. How many of us have been thirsty for love this valentine season? Thirsty is a slang often used to describe someone who is desperate. How many of us are like this, desperate for affection, Secretly coveting the “relationship goals” we see thrown in our faces all over social media?

This samaritan woman had had 5 husbands and was now shacking up with a man who wasn’t even her husband. Jesus’ acknowledged her previous life but that didn’t stop Him from asking for a drink or conversing with Her.

All that you have done in the past will not prevent Jesus from wanting to be your valentine.

Jesus is calling out to us today, He wants to be our valentine, He wants to shower us with the kind of love and affection we’ve never experienced before or thought humanly possible. There’s no need for worldly validation through MCM/WCW. As Francesca Battistelli says: “I don’t need my name in lights, i’m famous in my father’s eyes”. 

You’re famous in Jesus’ eyes. He loves you with a love the world can never understand. Jesus is knocking on the door to your heart. Don’t refuse Him in because He’s not cool enough by the world’s standards!

How many of us are settling for friends with benefits this valentines because we long for more but can’t seem to find it anywhere?

How many of us long to be someone’s WCW/MCM?

How many of us are sending nudes around town just to get some attention?

How many of us are thirsty and I mean truly thirsty for a valentine date?  

Jesus told the woman, if you drink this well’s water you will be thirsty again. Jesus contrasts temporary with eternal satisfaction, teaching that all earthly pleasures, even if legitimate, are fading.  If we satisfy our thirst from the well of worldly water, we will be thirsty again, our desperation won’t fade away.

Jesus is the only valentine that can truly quench our thirst. Jesus says “I will give” – this expresses the divine origin of the blessing; “springing up” depicts its great abundance; “eternal life” shows its endless duration. Don’t you want someone who will love you divinely, abundantly and endlessly? True love is about giving. Need I remind you of John 3:16 which says For God so loved the world that He gave! He gave!

When Jesus offered Her eternal life as a sign of His love, she tried to deflect, she started talking about “I perceive you are a prophet.” This is how we often miss it too. We deflect God’s voice instead of listening when He’s speaks because we feel we aren’t worthy or because we are afraid of what He will say.

Don’t deflect Jesus, listen to Him.

The woman said “when the messiah comes He will tell us all things” Meaning she had a standard, someone in her head she was expecting, but she didn’t realise that the one she had been searching for was the very person before her. Often times, we miss God’s love even as He displays it right in our faces! Jesus said: “I am He” 

All that you are looking for in a valentine, Jesus is. 

Choose Jesus, chase after Him, post him all over your social media pages. He loves you and it’s no joke. Jesus could have gotten water anywhere else but He came all the way to Samaria, to the well of Jacob, just for that woman.

No matter how far we are, Jesus will go all the way for us. We don’t even know this woman’s name yet Her conversation with Jesus is the longest recorded in the bible. It’s good that we don’t know her name because it allows each one of us the freedom to see ourselves reflected in Her story.

The greatest Valentine you could ever receive is Jesus Christ!

Prayer: Dear Lord, I look away from the world and look to you. You are my source of love and strength. May I always listen to all you have to say and never deflect your voice. Help me to recognise your love and realise that you are all I am looking for. In Jesus name, Amen.

Grace & Peace!