Day 215: Water that Satisfies

John 4:1-26; 1 Chronicles 15:1-16:7; Zechariah 4

Jews and Samaritans did not like each other. And yet, Jesus sits down with this Samaritan woman and shares the gospel message with her. Salvation through Jesus isn't just for the elite, just for those who have their life cleaned up, just for those who have read a lot of the Bible. The gospel is for everyone, even this woman who was living with a man that was not her husband and had been divorced 5 times. Jesus tells her that the water he gives will keep her satisfied forever. She appears to have been seeking something in her relationships, being married 5 times and now living with someone. The "water" of her life that she had been drinking left her unsatisfied, that's why kept trying to fill it with different relationships. But our relationship with Jesus and the eternity we are promised will never leave us unsatisfied. We will only want more, not out of need, but because Jesus' presence is so powerful.

The first time David had tried to bring the sacred chest to Jerusalem, he basically went out and got it, didn't think about God's expectations, and one man ended up dead. This second time around, David understood his mistake, and had the roles filled with the proper servants. There were certain people that God had ordained to care for the temple, the chest, etc. God had created these people for a particular place of service and it was their duty, not anyone else's to carry it out. The same is true today. We each have been given a specific role by God to use to give him glory and honor his kingdom. However, if we try to do something we are not designed to do, it causes problems: we get burnt out, frustrated, criticized. However, if we do what God has designed us to do, it is refreshing, life-giving, energizing. This just shows the individual nature of our Lord: he cares about each of us separately, so he gives us individual roles to fill.

The Lord tells Zerubbabel, "don't depend on your own power or strength but on my Spirit." When we give up our efforts, our trials, our goals, for God's power and strength, we are able to accomplish so much more. Maybe not more in terms of the world's standards, but more of what really matters for eternity and in God's eyes.