Well of Adultery

Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

Jesus was literally wanting a drink of water. When he stopped in Samaria at the well, a woman approached. Jews did not associate with Samaritans so when Jesus asked her for a drink from the well she was confused. She questioned why Jesus was even talking to her. But… Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” John 4:7

Jesus was offering her more than just a drink of refreshing cool water. He was offering “living water”. This living water is spiritual life but to partake you must “drink”. To “drink” would refer to a relationship with Jesus Christ. To stop “drinking” or having communion with Christ (prayer and Bible study or willfully sinning) would sever the relationship and it would become “broken fellowship”.

The woman was not only a Samaritan but an adulterer (someone who has had voluntary sexual relations with someone other than their spouse). She had had 5 husbands and was now living with someone else. Here is the thing…She was ready to hear God’s Word. She was ready to ask forgiveness. She was ready for the U-turn that says, “go and sin no more”.

Adultery is a broken well, a cistern that will not hold water. Woodrow M. Kroll says, “When adultery walks in, everything worth having walks out.” Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous (Hebrews 13:4). Adultery is a sin that is more than the action in the bedroom, it is a heart issue and just having lustful intent is the same as the action. You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). Adultery will destroy your family and your life but there is hope if you are ready to hear God’s Word, if you are ready to ask forgiveness and make a U-turn. Drink from the “living water”. Jesus is offering you a drink just like the Samaritan woman. His desire is to bring you to eternal life just as he desired for her. She was ready. She drank from the well of “living water”. Will you?

Pastor Julia Scott