Seeing You For Who You Are

"So the woman left her water jar and ran to town. There she said to the people, 'Come and see a man who told me everything I did! Could he not be the Christ?'" - John 4:28-29

While crossing through Samaria, a place of people that were enemies with the Jews, Jesus was thirsty and asked a woman by a well to give Him water to drink. Astonished that a Jew would ask a Samaritan woman for water, she became curious and began to have a conversation with Jesus about her life and salvation. Without her telling Him, Jesus told her that He knew she had five husbands and she wasn't even married to the man she was with then! Imagine the surprise this woman received upon hearing her sins from a Jewish stranger! Moreover, I learned recently that in their culture, Samaritan women would go fetch water at the wells early in groups, so for this one woman to be by herself later on in the day meant that she was a "bad" woman and kind of cast aside from society. But knowing all of this, Jesus went to her to bring His Word to her life. He went to where she was and let her know that He knew her, all her life, her heart, all that she was. When she ran off to tell everyone in town about Jesus proclaiming, "Come and see a man who told me everything I did!" I believe that what she meant was, "come and see someone who has searched my heart, knows who I am, but has brought me salvation!" How about you? Do you need Jesus to look at you today, acknowledge your sins and still tell you that His love and His salvation is for you? That's what He wants to do. It must have felt amazing for that woman to have Jesus look into her soul and make her feel accepted and that God's promise has come to her. When she left her water jug behind to run off to tell people about Jesus, she left her guilt behind, and all the baggage she was carrying from her past. It's time for you to let go of the guilt and the baggage. Jesus is always there to meet you where you are. Jesus is there to look you in the eyes and tell you who you are - not a sinner, not a bad person - but a child of God. That's who you are.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help me to define myself only as You see me. Help me to do away with the chains that tie me to my guilt and my past. Help me move forward because You have called me and You have told me who I am in You. Help me follow Your voice and not my own. In Your Name we pray, amen.