Day 13: Leave Your Jar

 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,  “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”  They came out of the town and made their way toward Him.  John 4:28

The story is all too familiar. The woman at the well. She sought to draw her water in the heat of the day. The noon sun shone over her bowed head, as she darted her eyes back and forth, hoping no one would see her. She had a history of failed relationships. Five prior marriages had come and gone, leaving a wake of heartache. She knew the man she lived with now would probably join the collection of failures eventually. She could hear the silent whispers... feel the dagger stares. 

She had seen a man sitting by the well as she approached. His face was kind but bold. He was different, she could tell. And it wasn't just because he was not a Samaritan. She focused on the task at hand, water jar hoisted on hip. 

He spoke. She didn't understand. Something about drawing up water. Living water. 

Where could she get this? She asks. He responds. 

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4: 13-14.

He speaks the truth of her past, and she is undone. He reveals Himself to her as the One, and she leaves her water jar. She walks away, seeking to find others to share this news. 

She left the vessel that led her to the well in the daylight, alone, and hidden with shame. She left the part of her that had been a symbol of alienation. 

She left the past at the well and moved forward. 

He knows the details. The ins and outs and all around parts of us that make us and break us. 

Have you carried your water jar too long? Did you even know you had one? Making those trips back and forth for water that leaves you dry... It's a growing moment. A life-giving moment. 

One that is eternal. 

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”  So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world". John 4: 39-42. 


Side note: Sunday's sermon held this story about the woman and the well. Our pastor shared in depth about this story, and this is where I first heard the connection and importance of leaving the water jar behind. If you want to hear it in detail, visit here