Beloved, Jesus loves you more than you can ever imagine. His love for you is an everlasting love, and His kindness towards you is an unfailing kindness. (see Jeremiah 31:3). If Jesus loved you and died for you while you were still a sinner, be convinced that He loves you even more so, because you are righteous in Him. (see 2 Corinthians 5:21, with Romans 5:8-11). During His earth walk, Jesus truly demonstrated His love for the poor, the sinful, the sick, and the downtrodden. Jesus never condemned sinners nor shunned their company. He never judged sinners nor made them feel guiltier than they already felt. Look at the stories of the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the fishermen, the blind, the lame and the sick that Jesus encountered. All He did was love them in a way that brought them to repentance and forgiveness, healing and transformation. The Bible says that God's kindness is intended to lead us to repentance. (see Romans 2:4). No wonder Jesus was so kind to sinners! He never made any sinner feel more guilty or ashamed than he already felt. Indeed Jesus was a friend of sinners. On a certain occasion Jesus went out of His way just to meet with a Samaritan woman — a sinner (see John 4:1-42). The Samaritan woman’s name was not mentioned in the story because she represents every sinner; she represents who I was and who you were before we came to Christ. What motivated Jesus to meet with the Samaritan woman was love, and love is what motivated Him to meet with us in our own personal encounters with Christ that has given us eternal life today. And so today love should be the force that motivates or compels us to also share the gospel of Christ with others. The Bible says that Jesus considered it a must or a need to go through Samaria, as He left Judea and departed again to Galilee (see John 4:3-4). And the obvious reason was that He had an imperative divine appointment with this Samaritan woman — an appointment that would bring her the good news of the Kingdom of God and change her life forever from a rotten, shameful, lonely and empty sinner, to a delightful, joy-filled, unashamed, and effective evangelist heralding the sighting of the Messiah to the men of her city and leading them to saving faith. What an amazing transformation the love of Christ brings! And what an amazing expression of love from Jesus our Lord to this Samaritan woman!
It is important to note also that this woman in the story wasn’t just a sinner, she was a Samaritan. And the Jews, during this period in history, considered the Samaritans as enemies — as dogs, as demons with whom they had no dealings (see John 8:48; Matthew 15:26; John 4:9). And so, for Jesus to visit this Samaritan woman, Jesus needed not only to break the gender barrier that was very prevalent also during this period in history, but the racial, religious, social, as well as political barriers between the Jews and the Samaritans. And He did! By meeting and interacting with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus gave her a firsthand experience of His love — the kind of love that knows no bounds. Jesus gave her not just a taste, but a full serving of what it means to be wanted, to be cared for, and to be loved selflessly. Jesus showed this Samaritan woman His great love, and gave her grace. He knew every sin she had ever committed, and still reached out to her and loved her anyway. This Samaritan woman had a thirst for true love that no man had been able to satisfy until now. She had been abused and used by many men in her village as she was married and divorced by five men, one after another, and the man she had now was not even her husband. (see John 4:17-18). Jesus knew about this Samaritan woman’s thirst for everlasting life and for true love — the God kind of love — and He satisfied that thirst, just as He has satisfied your thirst and my thirst, and will satisfy the thirst of all who are willing to embrace Him. As Jesus Himself told the Samaritan woman, whoever drinks of the water Jesus gives will NEVER thirst. But the water that He shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. (see John 4:14).
Indeed, Jesus is the ultimate lover; He is Love. Today I recommend Jesus to you if you haven’t accepted Him yet as your Lord and Savior. He is the cure for your lonely heart. He knows everything about you and loves you anyway. If you thirst for everlasting life, if you thirst for true love, come to Jesus, because He alone can satisfy your thirst; He alone can fill the void or the emptiness within. If you rely on man for love, or if you drink from human relationships alone, you will thirst again; only Jesus can satisfy the thirst of your soul for true love and eternal life. And Jesus is reaching out to you today just as He reached out to the Samaritan woman, just as He reached out to me. He says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (see Matthew 11:28 NIV). Then He adds for the benefit of those who still find it difficult to come; He says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20 NIV). What an amazing invitation to a love feast, to a love relationship and fellowship with Jesus! What an amazing love Jesus has for us! He loves you, and He wants to fellowship with you if you're willing to have Him. He has extended an open invitation to everyone. He loves you greatly. But, you see, He will never violate your free will by forcing you to accept His love. Jesus’ love extends to people of all race, age, gender, or creed. His love and warmth always attracted all manner of people to Him during His earth walk. It made faithful disciples out of the worst sinners. It attracted parents to bring their little children to Him for blessing. And boy, how Jesus loved these little children! On a certain occasion when His disciples rebuked and tried to prevent the little children from coming to Jesus, the Bible says that “When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (see Mark 10:13-14). In fact, this was one of the few times Jesus was angry, indignant. Jesus loves it when we, His little children, come to Him, because He loves us greatly. And so He gets angry with anything or anyone who tries to prevent us from coming to Him. May you come to Him today to drink from His fountain of love, so that you will never thirst. Amen.
I share this message, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16 KJV).
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