Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"¹

The culture of Jesus' day was vastly different from ours except, perhaps, for cultural prejudice. On one occasion when Jesus wanted to reach a Samaritan village with his message of salvation, he stopped by a well and made friends with a Samaritan woman. This definitely was not kosher for a Jew because the Jews looked down their noses at Samaritans and had no dealings with them.

Not so Jesus. After asking this woman for a drink of water and some small talk he directed the conversation to spiritual matters. Not only was this woman a Samaritan but one who had led a very colorful life and Jesus knew exactly what type of person she was. She was a social outcast, which was obvious by the fact that she was drawing water from the well in the middle of the day. All the other women from the village did so in the cool of the evening.

Jesus said to the lady, "Go and get your husband and come back with him."

"I don't have a husband," she replied.

"I know," Jesus said, "you've already had five and the man you are now with is not your husband!" That would be quite a reputation even today, let alone in that society. And yet, this was the woman that Jesus chose to be the messenger to carry the gospel to her villageâ€"which she didâ€"and the people there came to see and hear Jesus for themselves. How many of us would treat such a woman this way?

Jesus, who upheld impeccable moral standards and high ideals regarding marriage, wasn't shocked by this woman's lifestyle. He saw beyond the externals and looked at her heart. Here was a woman who needed salvation and was willing to admit it.

Neither is God shocked with you or me when we are willing to admit our needs, sins and faults and bring them to him for his forgivenessâ€"and when we acknowledge our brokenness and come to him for his healing and deliverance.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank You that You love and accept me as I am. Please heal all my brokenness and help me to love and accept others as You love and accept me. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."

1. John 4:29 (NIV).

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