John 4

Jesus on His way from Judaea to Galilee was so wearied with His journey that He took a break near Jacob’s well in the city of Sychar, Samaria. It was the practice, for women to come to the well with their pots and fetch water for their daily needs but only at stipulated times. Women considered immoral in the society and those living in adultery were allowed access to the well only during the hottest part of the day. Jesus timed his visit perfectly, just to meet the Samaritan woman, whom He knew in His Spirit was dry and empty within herself.

She could not find the inner satisfaction in life in spite of living with six different men, but when she met Jesus, He gave her living water (which only He can) to quench her thirst and give her a new future. All through her life she had flirted with happiness, which depended solely on the state of her mind. Nevertheless, Jesus gave her joy that infiltrated into the innermost recesses of her being, that she left the pot (which signified her daily burden) and ran to share it with all the other people in the city.

Summing up with a true story, a midget went repeatedly to a psychiatrist seeking treatment for his depression. The psychiatrist finally told him one day to visit the local circus and watch the clown, who was gladdening the hearts of thousands in the city. He said that he too would visit the circus just to see the clown, who lifted his spirits up on a dull day. The midget then confessed to the doctor, that he was the clown in that circus ‘who desperately needed real joy in his soul’.

Thought for the day: Only Jesus can replace our outward happiness with inward Joy - which is permanent!