Jesus, in verses 1-9, exhibits two qualities that I want to imitate out of loving obedience to him today. First, although he is exhausted he initiates a conversation with someone. When I am exhausted, I tend to run from people. I’m embarrassed to admit this but there have been times when I have seen someone I knew at Walmart and, because of fatigue, instead of striking up conversation I hid behind a box of cereal or ran down a different aisle when I saw them coming. Jesus, though exhausted, mustered up the energy to converse with a woman who was in desperate need of a friend. Out of loving obedience to Christ, I will do the same today no matter the level of exhaustion I may feel.
Secondly, Jesus not only overcame his fatigue to reach out to this woman, he also overcame the social “lines in the sand” that the people of his day would draw. The woman is actually surprised that Jesus, a Jewish male, would speak to her, a Samaritan female. Who would be surprised if I, a white Christian 30-something male, reached out to them today? I hope you will lovingly obey and imitate Christ with me today by befriending people who might be surprised by our interest in them.
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