GRACE WINSSample

Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4 is a powerful moment in which we learn about the eternal, thirst-quenching gift of the Holy Spirit! When the Samaritan woman and Jesus first begin talking about water, the woman assumes Jesus is talking about physical drinking water from Jacob’s well. Then, Jesus explains the water He is talking about will cause her to be forever satisfied and never thirst again, filling her with endless life. She immediately asks for a drink so she never has to walk to the well again! Smart woman!

But the Holy Spirit—although it is a free gift when we accept Christ—is extremely valuable and costly, only received fully when we surrender our lives completely. So Jesus begins to reveal who He is so that she can receive this life-giving gift. He tells things about her life He couldn’t know unless He was God. This gets her attention, and she begins to understand and say, “This could be the Anointed One!” She then goes and spreads the news about Jesus. 

The Samaritan woman’s initial response to Jesus was her desire for Him to meet a physical need in her life; she thought the gospel sounded great, because she would no longer need to walk to the well to get water! How convenient! Jesus loves to meet our physical needs with answers to prayer—healing, provision, specific needs. He loves His children and wants to bless us with a full, amazing, God-breathed life in the natural realm! But these tangible needs are always pointing us to the Spirit realm, to Who He is, to His great love for us, to the spiritual gifts He gives us, to the eternal thirst-quenching Holy Spirit.  

We are all searching for satisfaction in life, for peace and contentment. The Samaritan woman was searching for true life in the previous five husbands, and, now, in the new man she was living with. Humanity often settles for the counterfeit “answer,” and then we move on to another counterfeit—whether that be in relationships, possessions, fame, accolades, net worth, success and the list goes on. These things do not have the power to truly satisfy, and they never will. In Christ, we find the only satisfaction, contentment and peace that will never run out. 

His love is endlessly life-giving and daily satisfying. And, when we receive Him into our hearts, this living water rushes in and overflows out of our lives into the world around us, for it cannot be contained. This grace flows freely into and out of our hearts. It’s a victorious grace, a life-giving and all-empowering grace—a grace that causes us to triumph and satisfies our soul.

- Georgie Kelsey