February 24, 2023

Drawing from a Different Well

 “She said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle? Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” John 4:11-15 (NASB)

In my old Army days, I was a squad leader of eight men in my platoon. When we stopped for a water break, we sat down to take a drink of water from our canteens. One soldier in my squad looked down and his canteen was gone. No water. Even if there was water, he had nothing to draw it. I shared mine with him. We all pitched in helped him that day, but we all ran short…

The woman at the well is much like Nicodemus at this point. She ran short of perception. She only could see from her present condition; the well and her duties to it each day. She was more concerned with Jesus having nothing to “draw with,” than the spiritual truths of being drawn. To understand the word, “draw,” in verse 4:11 it refers to “antlēma; a container to draw with or a bucket.”[1] “Here a bucket, made of skin, had three cross sticks at the mouth to keep it open and let down by a goat’s-hair rope.” [2] The woman only saw what might be at the depth of the well (possibly 100 feet) rather than the depth of what Jesus was trying to share. She didn’t understand that her meeting with Jesus was one she was drawn to by God’s will. Jesus did. The second time the word “draw” appears in verse 15. The word “draw” used is, “antlos; to bail out, draw water.[3] She responded to Jesus by misunderstanding again, by thinking that she would not have to come to this well each day. This was a duty she might perform twice a day. She is evidently puzzled or maybe even attracted by this time in the conversation. Whatever it was, she was about to learn that Jesus is the Son of God. He had drawn her to this appointed time.

The woman at the well, is much like you and me. We get into the same old habits each day. We do it, and many times miss out on something that was meant for us that day. We might misunderstand what is happening because we are simply too busy or in the daily grind. We misunderstand like the woman at the well. Jesus is drawing man to Himself each and every day. Some to salvation, some to a daily closer walk with Him. God has appointed times daily for Christians. When God mentions spiritual truths, sometimes we look at it superficially. Then never take the time to inspect. We are not drawn to it. Today, don’t look to the well to get something from it, but look to the One who is beside it. His name is Jesus. If He made the trip into her life, I am sure He looks to appointed times with each of us. When He does, don’t look for the earthly things you can get, but look for the spiritual. It can make the difference in your eternity if you don’t know Him today. He calls all to the “water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

[2] Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 2 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), 114.

[3] Ibid, Thomas.