Message: I saw a huge contrast in John 4 between those who believed Jesus at his word and those who believed because of the signs. When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman I thought it was interesting that he first asked HER for something. A drink of water- before telling her that he had an unlimited supply. She had follow up questions but was open and not sceptic. Because of this Jesus revealed himself to her as the Messiah very bluntly because she acknowledged that she knew a Messiah was coming. Jesus didn’t do that with anyone else and the cool thing is that she was a Samaritan woman. Someone the Jews would never associate with. She ran and told her village and shared her testimony and they believed her at her word too. Then when they actually met Jesus for themselves they said “we no longer believe because of what you (the woman) said, for now we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the savior of the world. They believed because of what they heard and not what they saw and this is HUGE. I didn’t realize just how huge this was until it occurred to me that all of the people who saw Jesus do signs and miracles are the very same people that turned on him when he wasn’t the kind of Messiah they were expecting and crucified him for it!
Another thing that stood out to me in here is that the disciples knew Jesus hadn’t eaten and were trying to get him to eat. He was telling them that he had “food” that they didn’t know of- and that his “food” was to do the will of God and to finish his work. We all understand that food satisfies an appetite or craving so Jesus is telling us here that our appetites can be satisfied by doing the will of God.
Command: Fulfill the will of God in my life!
Promise: When I fulfill the will of God in my life I find complete satisfaction in Him. Far more satisfaction than anything the flesh could possibly desire.
Warning: If I am trying to fulfill my desires by any other means I will not find it and if I am waiting on God to do something for me or show me something I will absolutely miss it!
Application: This reminds me that the long mental list of things I am hoping God will fix or change is not what will finally satisfy my soul. When my focus is on doing the will of God in my life it brings a satisfaction that nobody can steal.
