As I was reading the 4th Chapter of John tonight, verse 42 jumped out at me.  ⁴² They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Jesus had encountered the Samaritan woman at the well.  Or more specifically, the Samaritan woman had encountered Jesus.  Jews and Samaritans… think of the relationship of black and white Americans in 1950’s Mississippi.  The racial divide was great.  Yet, as she comes to the well to get water, this young Jewish rabbi asks her for a drink.  She is shocked. YOU would ask me for a drink of water?   Yet, just a few verses later, she KNOWS whom she has encountered. The messiah…The Christ. And this encounter was so profound that she goes and tells everyone she knows, and her testimony is so compelling, that they all believe before they have even heard Him or met Him personally.  In verse 42, they said to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe.

Our testimony to the world should be powerful and effective.  When we have had an encounter with The Christ, people will know something has happened.  A Samaritan woman, married 5 times, shacked up with prospect #6, encounters a Jewish rabbi and she is changed. She has encountered her savior. No one doubts her story based on her life, her past, or her current situation. That kind of encounter gets peoples attention.

But….. and its a big BUT….. it’s not enough.  Our job is to show the lost our hope. Our life should be a compelling witness of our encounter. But after that our job is to point them to Him personally.  When we hear an amazing story, we are amazed. But as hearers only, we soon forget the amazing story, and go on with our own lives. But for the person that was involved in the actual story, they are changed by it. They do NOT soon forget it. If that Samaritan woman had only told them about her encounter, in a day or two, it would have been forgotten.  But she doesn’t stop there.  Come see this man that told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? She got them to the master. She pointed them to Him. And after encountering Him for themselves,  we hear their response.  The ultimate response, “we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world”.  

Allow me to share something amazing with you…. I was one screwed up girl! Truly. If you dig you could find out stories about me that would cause me to cringe in shame.  But one day I heard about this Jesus. If you knew me right after I heard about Him and was told amazing stories about Him, you would have seen an excitement in me that would have been contagious. Would that be enough to really help you believe?  If you knew me back then, it actually may have been enough, for a little while anyway. But what really changed me was when I truly heard for myself. When I started to read His word.  As I began to truly KNOW Him… that was what changed me.  Possibly my encounter with Christ could impact your life.  That would be amazing. But the real change is when YOU get to know Him. One hour on Sunday and maybe a Wednesday night service will never be enough for you to Know Him. Let me encourage you to make the move to really know Him. To find out for yourselves that He is the Savior. Gods’ word is not a boring book of genealogy and thee, thou, and thy. Find an online translation that you can understand and dive in. It is good stuff.  I promise. The stories are amazing, and it is filled with jacked up people just like me… and you. And grace. A love story like no other. A book of judgement and redemption. And from Genesis to the Revelation, it is simply God’s all consuming desire, at all costs, to have a relationship with us.