At the Well-"Conviction of Sin was Awakened".....this is a part of the story that many today miss, or leave out, whether not knowing it-or on purpose. Christ reached out to the outcasts, not by hanging with them in their dens of sin, or condoning their activities, but by leading them to a desire for repentance....He wanted to draw them to Himself to save them...not pat them on the back so as to be able to pat Himself on the back....it is a battle soul by soul in this Great Controversy...and He aimed for hers at the Well of Jacob....
* "As Jesus sat by the well side, the cool, refreshing water, so near and yet so inaccessible to him, only increased his thirst. He had neither rope nor bucket with which to draw, and he waited until some one should come to the well. He might have performed a miracle, and thus have obtained a draught from the well, had he wished; but this was not God's plan. Nothing must be allowed to separate him from
the lot of humanity, which he had voluntarily assumed.
*Christ was near to the woman of Samaria, and she knew him not. She was thirsting for the truth, yet knew not that He, the Truth, was beside her, and was able to enlighten her. And today there are thirsting souls sitting close by the living fountain. But they are looking far away from the well that contains the refreshing water, and, though told that the water is close by, they will not believe.
*Earth's cisterns will often be emptied, its pools become dry; but in Christ there is a living spring from which we may continually draw. However much we draw and give to others, an abundance will remain. There is no danger of exhausting the supply;"
Signs of the Times 1/22/1897 E.G.W./John 4
* "As Jesus sat by the well side, the cool, refreshing water, so near and yet so inaccessible to him, only increased his thirst. He had neither rope nor bucket with which to draw, and he waited until some one should come to the well. He might have performed a miracle, and thus have obtained a draught from the well, had he wished; but this was not God's plan. Nothing must be allowed to separate him from
*Christ was near to the woman of Samaria, and she knew him not. She was thirsting for the truth, yet knew not that He, the Truth, was beside her, and was able to enlighten her. And today there are thirsting souls sitting close by the living fountain. But they are looking far away from the well that contains the refreshing water, and, though told that the water is close by, they will not believe.
*The woman was so astonished at his words that she rested her pitcher on the well, and, forgetting the thirst of the stranger and his request to give him to drink, forgetting her errand to the well, she was lost in her earnest desire to hear every word. “Sir,” she said, “give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.”
*Jesus now abruptly changed the subject of conversation, and bade the woman call her husband. She frankly replied, “I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband; for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband; in that saidst thou truly.”
As the past of her life was spread out before her, the listener trembled. Conviction of sin was awakened. She said, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.”
*And then, in order to change the conversation to some other subject, she endeavored to lead Christ into a controversy upon their religious differences. “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain,” she said, “and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ; when he is come, he will tell us all things.” But what was her astonishment when Jesus said, “I that speak unto thee am he.”
Christ reads beneath the surface, and he revealed to the woman of Samaria her soul thirst, which the water from the well of Sychar could never satisfy. ... And through the words spoken to her,
the water of life was to flow forth to many thirsting souls.
*Earth's cisterns will often be emptied, its pools become dry; but in Christ there is a living spring from which we may continually draw. However much we draw and give to others, an abundance will remain. There is no danger of exhausting the supply;"
Signs of the Times 1/22/1897 E.G.W./John 4