OUR DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries)
READ: John 4 (Focus vs. 4–14)
MEMORY VERSE
“You would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
John 4:10
BACKGROUND
Andrea’s home life was unstable, and she left at fourteen, finding a job and living with friends. Yearning for love and affirmation, she later moved in with a man who introduced her to drugs, which she added to the alcohol she already drank regularly.
But the relationship and the substances didn’t satisfy her longings. She kept searching, and after several years she met some believers in Jesus who reached out to her, offering to pray with her. A few months later, she finally found the One who would quench her thirst for love—Jesus.
The Samaritan woman at the well whom Jesus approached for water found her thirst satisfied too.
She was there in the heat of the day (John 4:5–7), probably to avoid the stares and gossip of other women, who would have known her history of multiple husbands and her current adulterous relationship (vv. 17–18).
When Jesus approached her and asked her for a drink, He bucked the social conventions of the day, for He, as a Jewish teacher, would not normally have associated with a Samaritan woman. But He wanted to give her the gift of living water that would lead her to eternal life (v. 10).
He wanted to satisfy her thirst.
When we receive Jesus as our Savior, we too drink of this living water. We can then share a cup with others as we invite them to follow Him.
By: Amy Boucher Pye
INSIGHT
In John 3, Nicodemus, a respected Jewish religious leader, sought Jesus at night (v. 2). In John 4, however, Christ initiates a conversation in the middle of the day with a woman from an ethnic group despised by the Jewish people Nicodemus taught.
Yet Jesus engaged both individuals in lengthy conversation, with positive results. The woman at the well immediately went and asked the townspeople, “Could this be the Messiah?” (v. 29).
After Jesus’ crucifixion, Nicodemus boldly identified himself with Christ by preparing His body for burial (19:38–40). Jesus’ ministry extends across all borders.
By: Tim Gustafson
APPLICATION
How do you think the woman at the well felt when Jesus asked her for some water? What does it mean to you to receive His living water?
PR’s PASTOR RICHARD) TAKE
“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 nlt
PR’s RE-EMPHASIS (From Post)
“When we receive Jesus as our Savior, we too drink of this living water. We can then share a cup with others as we invite them to follow Him.”
PRAYER
“Father God, You welcome all who are thirsty to come to the waters and drink. Satisfy my thirst through Your living water.”
TODAY’s HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
QUENCH MY THIRST – FILL MY CUP Hillsong
Like the woman at the well,
I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy;
And then I heard my Savior speaking:
“Draw from my well
That never shall run dry”.
Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench
This thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more
Fill my cup,
Fill it up and make me whole!
There are millions in this world
Who are craving,
The pleasures earthly things afford;
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.
Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!
So, my neighbor,
If the things this world gave you,
Leave hungers that won’t pass away,
My blessed Lord will come and save you,
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray:
Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!
READING THROUGH THE BIBLE DALY IN 2023
Numbers 7&8
Mark 4:21-41