Today Daily Devotional

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
— John 4:7

To read this story well, we need to understand who this Samaritan woman was. As we saw yesterday, the Samaritans were a minority group that was distantly related to the Jews. And most “respectable” Jews in Jesus’ day kept their distance from Samaritans, having determined that they were “not their kind” of people.Further, we need to look at this woman’s place in her own community. As we noted a couple of days ago, she was lugging her heavy water jug to the local well in the heat of midday, though everyone else did that in the cool of the morning. She was keeping her distance even though it made her life more difficult. She was an outcast among outcasts.John 4 observes later that the disciples were surprised to discover Jesus talking to this woman (v. 27). And that’s probably an understatement. Any decent rabbi (teacher) would rarely talk to a woman, much less a Samaritan one. But here was Jesus, having a conversation with this woman at the well near Sychar.This encounter reveals something important about the kind of kingdom Jesus had come to bring. This wasn’t a kingdom where you spent your time with only the people who were like you and could help you get ahead. Jesus seemed drawn to people who had the least to offer him.What about you? Whom has God placed in your life who has little to offer you?

Lord, help us to follow your example of seeking people who are overlooked or outcast. Give us the heart to love everyone, trusting you will use it to do good. Amen.

Now [Jesus] had to go through Samaria.
— John 4:4

The story at Sychar is all about outsiders. Samaritans were racially mixed former Israelites who had intermarried when Israel was conquered and exiled (2 Kings 17). To the Jews, then, the Samaritans were no longer really God’s people. They were more like the embarrassing family secret that people didn’t like to talk about at get-togethers. Yet they lived next door to the Jews in Jesus’ day, so occasional run-ins were inevitable.In those days, most Jews traveled around Samaria to avoid going through it. But Jesus led his disciples right through the land of compromise as he traveled from Judea to Galilee. No hiding for them!Who are the “Samaritans” in your world? Perhaps they are people who live across some border near you? Or they align with another political party? Or they have a lifestyle that contrasts with yours?How do you react to your “Samaritans”? Often we bristle against them. We stiffen inwardly if we see them going against our convictions. Or, at times, we may feel intimidated and try to get them to like us. Sometimes they can also begin to change us, leading us to become more and more like them, for better or for worse. In Jesus’ day that kind of compromise was the religious leaders’ worst fear for Israel.How do you tend to respond to the “Samaritans” in your life?

Lord, give us courage to cross boundaries without fear or compromise. Help us to reflect your truth and love among people whom we might otherwise avoid. In your name, Amen.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water. . .
— John 4:7

This month, we’ll get to know a surprising woman whom Jesus befriended. John 4:7 begins to describe a situation that was not what this woman would have wanted.To begin with . . . it would have been hot at “about noon.”For a dozen years my family lived in northern California, which has a Mediterranean climate. There is usually a 30-degree swing in temperature every day. In the morning it is usually cool, but later in the day it will be taking-pizza-from- the-oven hot. Then in the evening it will cool back down. People adapt their schedules to this pattern.Now, if you were going to haul a water jug the size of a child all the way out to the public well to fill it and haul it back, when would you do that? Probably not at noon.This isn’t just a detail about the time of day. It speaks to how this woman saw herself in her village. She was keeping her distance. And you don’t do that if people like you.This Samaritan woman had learned to hide. At least until Jesus found her. In the end, her isolation turned out to be a gift, drawing her close enough to the Savior to be found. We’ll focus more on that later.Are you facing unpleasant circumstances lately? Can you picture how Christ might be meeting you in that situation? Ask him for help; he is near.

Lord, meet us even in the places where we might least expect you. Use even uncomfortable circumstances to draw us close and to reveal your grace to us. Amen.

“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
— Luke 5:30

Followers of Jesus are expected to be nice, well-behaved, and untainted by the world, right? Most believers seem to think that.But Jesus never seemed to catch on to that idea. In fact, he tended to do the opposite. He sat comfortably among people whom others avoided and disapproved of. He didn’t join them in their sin, but he enjoyed their company. In an important sense, they were his kind of people.But we often act differently. We cluster with people who think, vote, and worship like we do. We keep a safe distance from people whose lives are different from ours—and seem to be rather complicated. On the other hand, if we try to blend in, we can tend to blur our convictions.Imagine Jesus glancing at your calendar this month. How much time would he see you spending with “his” kind of people? Would he see you keeping your distance from them? Alternatively, might he see you blurring your convictions in order to fit in?One day, when Jesus returns, every believer will be surrounded by people who are free of spiritual struggles. That will be a great day indeed. But that day isn’t here yet.Look at your calendar for this month. Whom might Jesus like to arrange for you to spend time with? Are they hiding? Will you go and find them?

Jesus, help me to see others as you do. Teach me to embrace everyone you love, stepping outside my comfort zone and showing the grace you have shown to me. Amen.

“The more they were called, the more they went away from me.”
— Hosea 11:2

This month we’re reflecting on hide and seek—the game about wanting and not wanting to be found.We’ve been playing that game with God for a long time. Think of Adam and Eve hiding in Eden, as God called, in effect, “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” (See Genesis 3.) Or think about God chasing down Jacob as he ran from the brother he had cheated. Jacob hid in the wilderness, only to hear God calling out, in effect, from a stairway to heaven, “I found you!” (See Genesis 28.)Or think of Israel in exile. They had rebelled against God for so long that the Lord had finally given them what they wanted: a life without him. Hosea shared God’s haunting words: “The more they were called, the more they went away from me.” God’s people had become experts at hiding.So it’s not surprising that when God the Son came, he joined in the game personally. Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost,” he said (Luke 19:10). He offered forgiveness and healing to people like us who couldn’t do forgiveness and healing very well on our own. And yet we tried our best to avoid what he was offering. Why do we keep doing that?Jesus called all kinds of people to follow him, and they did. Yet even his closest followers had their own agendas and often tried to keep going their own way (see Mark 10:35-45).When you hear Jesus calling you, what is your response?

Faithful God, thank you for never giving up on us. When we drift or resist, pursue us with patient love and teach us to trust in your grace. Amen.