March 26th 2016
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” – John 4:16-18 (NKJV)
11 The Lord knows our thoughts, that they are but an empty breath. – Psalm 94:11 (NRSV)
Jesus Called her “Out”, to Call her “Up”
Have you ever been called out for something? For doing something wrong, maybe for lying, accused somebody of something they might not necessarily have done just to save yourself. According to the Urban Dictionary to call out means, “to challenge someone in some way”. In other words to announce to someone that one knows the others lies or intentions. The LORD did this to the woman at the well. Jesus didn’t do this to belittle or shame the woman, he did this to make a point. A point of love. Sometimes we need to walk through dark valleys, just like the Samaritan woman so God can call us into the light. The light of the living LORD.
Jesus called the woman at the well “out” to give her living water, she thirsted for much more. The LORD can give us salvation, if we can get past that initial barrier and give ourselves to him. The command go call my husband is the first stroke breaking up the surface of the appearance and revealing the uncleanliness of the life beneath it.
Jesus knew the woman’s story at the well, yet he still continued to love her. The LORD knows all our stories. He knows all our thoughts and intentions. Psalm 94:11 says, “The Lord knows our thoughts, that they are but an empty breath”. We are not perfect, there is sin in the world all around us. Sometimes we will fall, but we need to know the LORD will be there for us once we do. Every now and then we need the LORD to let us know that we have even fallen, because occasionally we get too caught up with our everyday lives and don’t know that we are down. That is when we need him to call us out. So he can turn our pain into purpose, the misery into ministry, and our devastation into messages of hope and restoration for our souls.
– Jessica Whitenight
Dedicated to my sister
