His worn sandals crushed and ground the sand down as He made His way to the well. Though dry, the weather of Sychar, a township of Samaria, was comfortable for the desert. Whatever the temperature and heat index, Jacob’s well was the stop off, like a modern-day watering hole… but this one really is… literally.
This day was like any day. Sheepherding, watering, and just living flashed by like glints from the sun on the sand. But for one woman, today was going to change the rest of her life. He was unassuming, kind, and gazing in her direction as she approached the well. It was mid-day and time to resupply the water needed for living. Unlike today, where the life-giving liquid is at every tap, faucet in multiple parts of our homes, this life-giving source required fetching.
As she approached the man said, “Give me a drink,” and here is where the story begins.
First, the societal rules of the day were that Jews didn’t share with Samaritans, and yet this ‘Jew’ not only spoke to her but asked for water. It wasn’t about turning water into wine. It wasn’t about Jesus calling down ‘fire from Heaven’ as a demonstration. It was the simple, almost nuclear shift of race boundaries being crossed, being ignored, to offer, in this case, the ‘living’ water all mankind needs. 
Every day our lives change. Tomorrow we will be different than we are today. However, most of our life changes happen in small, incremental steps… maybe like the steps of the Carpenter on that dusty hot day… and that’s the point. Those small increments, one step at a time, lead to a huge shift. This event, the master meeting the woman at the well, was the tipping point of many steps that led Him to her. It was a cataclysmic shift. A Jew speaking to a Samaritan who, based on the context of the story was living a life, shall we say of challenging decisions. He spoke to her without condemnation, offering a gift of love, a gift as the scriptures say, of ‘everlasting water’.
We might not, within our own selves, have the ability to offer water that lasts forever but we do have the gift of giving something that lasts forever and that is the love of Christ.
Think of your steps and the steps of those around you. Realize that where your shoes go, you might intersect with someone who needs that everlasting love.
Peace on your Journey this week.
Jeff
