Growing In Godliness Blog
“Preaching in Samaria”
Categories: Author: Paul Earnhart, Faith, Jesus, TeachingPreaching in Samaria
By Paul Earnhart
Jesus had a powerful influence on the Samaritan woman whom He met at a well-side. We read of this in John chapter 4 (John 4:5-42). When He first began talking to her, she was so concerned with her task of drawing the water from the well that she was not interested at all in the spiritual water He offered her. But after Jesus had talked to her for a few minutes, after He had demonstrated His supernatural knowledge of her life and had revealed Himself to her as the Messiah, she forgot all about her water pots and went running into the city, saying to her friends: "Come, see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (John 4:29)
One of the greatest hindrances to true faith in Christ is our preoccupation with material things. We are so busy making a living, providing for our families, looking for a bigger house, trading cars, attending concerts, going to ball games, hunting and fishing, and on and on. And the result is that we just don't have time for Bible study and prayer and Christian service and attendance to worship. We are just too busy.
It is altogether to the credit of this woman that even after Jesus had reminded her of her sinful life, she allowed Him to talk to her. She considered the evidence that He was the Messiah and once she had come to believe in Him, she undertook to share that faith with others. Like Andrew and Philip (John 1:40-46), she did not try to convince them herself; she brought them to Jesus that they might reach their own conclusions.
And the result was remarkable. After they had spent time with Jesus, "They said to the woman, 'Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world'" (John 4:42). Jesus is His own best witness. Let us take the time to know Him ourselves; then let us take others to the Scriptures that they may see Him for themselves and know that He is the Christ.
