“A Date with the King”

by Savaslas Lofton

 

Do you remember your very first date? After greeting him, did you find yourself immediately comparing him with a list of expectations you may have predicated based on past experiences? Did you listen intently to see how he responded to questions you adeptly asked to test the authenticity of his truthfulness and character? Did you anticipate him opening your car door, entertaining you with productive dialogue, and offering to pay for your meal? Was he respectable and courteous like you imagined? Having this list of “do’s and don’ts” probably provided you with an emotional safeguard to help gauge how far to let him into your personal space. I am quite sure that you would agree that having an offensive strategy is much more effective than having a defensive strategy when calculating the unknowns of dating. The fourth chapter of John speaks of a woman who never had the chance to prepare herself for the ultimate date with the

King, Jesus Christ. “He left Judea and returned to Galilee. It was necessary for Him to go through Samaria. And in doing so, He arrived at a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the tract of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. And Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, tired as He was from His journey, sat down [to

rest] by the well. It was then about the sixth hour (about noon). Presently, when a woman of Samaria came along to draw water, Jesus said to her, Give Me a drink.” (v. 4, 6-7 AMP) When meeting someone for the first time, the protocol is to make a formal introduction. However, Jesus demonstrated that Divine appointment is more important to Him than protocol. This is what Dr. Mike Brown, author of “Beyond Ordinary,” calls a defining moment. By challenging

her belief system and exposing her to the Truth, this life-changing moment with the Savior revolutionized her way of thinking and living. Jesus said, “…

All who drink of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto (into, for) eternal life.” (John 4:13-14 AMP)

Before meeting Jesus, the Samaritan woman was not acutely aware of how much she desperately needed this living

water. She was too preoccupied with the challenges of life to stop and notice how spiritually dehydrated she had become. It was customary that the stronger

young women of the household were usually responsible for bringing back water from Jacob’s well; but she had no one to help her. Can you imagine how difficult it was for her to do everything on her own, taking very little time, if any, to nurture the spiritual and emotional side of her? She had to endure the scorching heat, despite how tired, parched and weary she was. Her needs had to become secondary if she was to keep up with the rigorous living conditions

of her life. The Samaritan woman’s defining moment was at this point of desperation. Coming to the realization of her own personal need, “The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water, so that I may never get thirsty nor have to come [continually all the way] here to draw.” (John 4:15 AMP) This was the conversion of her heart; she reached out to Jesus in her desperation, reaching the place of surrender, as she realized she could no longer do it on her own.

Like the Samaritan woman, have you reached your point of surrender? Thirst comes as a result for a valid need for water. Do you find yourself replacing your thirst for the “Living Water”, with people and things that only bring nothing but a false sense of security? Jesus is sitting on the well of your life waiting for you to realize that He is the only living water that can quench the thirst of your soul. Jesus is saying to YOU, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened and I will cause you to rest...”

(Matthew 11:28 AMP)•