The power of invitation

We are a society in constant transition and busyness. Pick up the kids by five, soccer practice by five-thirty, dinner in the minivan on the way home, you get the picture. In this place of constant transition, people need a place of refuge they can go to and just be themselves.

In Jesus day it was the well in the center of town.

We find the following events in John 4:6, Jacob's well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink." He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
Jesus is at a Samaritan well, alone, tired, thirsty and weary, seeking some solace from the noonday sun.

Here is the Samaritan woman, the woman with no name, getting water at noon. Pay attention to the time. Noon, who gets water at noon? At noon, I can guarantee their will not be any people to run into, no icy stares to turn away from.
The well is the local office water cooler in today’s society.

“What did you do this weekend?”
"Did you hear about Julie’s kid getting in trouble with the police this weekend?”
“Did you see what Don’s secretary was wearing today?”

But the woman, with no name I might add, is alone and that’s how she prefers it. She has purposely sought out a time when no one would be there to see her getting water, when no one would be able to talk with her. No sideways glances, no off-handed remarks.

“Is she here!”
“Isn’t she on her third marriage?”
“How many men has she shacked up with?”

Like a master fisherman, casting out his line, waiting patiently for a strike, is Jesus… “Please give me a drink.” The lady is surprised; no one has talked openly with her in quite awhile; especially at the well. Plus, this stranger doesn’t even have a bucket to get water with. Jesus and the woman continue to talk, she opens up to his questions and answers truthfully. Jesus tells the woman that He is in fact the Messiah and the woman is amazed. Amazed so much that she leaves her water jar by the well and goes back into the village. Not only does she go back to the village, but she goes back and tells everyone what Jesus has told her.

This woman that hid from the crowds due to her embarrassment is now Jesus’ messenger of hope. And more people come to Jesus, after listening to the woman, to see Jesus for themselves. Not only do they listen to Jesus, but they entrust their lives to Him.

This story closes out with Jesus telling His disciples about the harvest.

John 4:35, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”

The harvest is ready!

Jesus isn’t talking about plants; He is talking about souls, about people. About people that are waiting to hear a word about Jesus, about who He is, from you. Don’t overlook the opportunities that arise in your life when you hear the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart to tell the cashier at Wal-Mart that Jesus loves her and has a plan for her life.

Like the story of Jesus in the fourth chapter of John, those moments may not come at the most opportune moment. They hardly ever do. When your children are tugging at you, when the cell phone is ringing, may be your biggest and most important opportunity to tell someone about Jesus.

Please do, it will change a life!