It was in a far-off land, on a hot day, long ago, that a woman came to draw cool water from the deep well outside the town, she found a tired Traveler sitting upon the brink of the well, and as she came near the Stranger spoke to her, and said, “Give Me to drink!”
Do you not know where that woman came from? Yes! The well upon which this Traveler sat, wearied with His journey, was close to the village of Sychar, in Samaria, and it was a Samaritan woman who came to draw water.
You are wondering whether she looks like the woman in the picture, who wore such a curious necklace. Perhaps she did wear just such a string of gold or silver coin; round her head and face, for the women it some parts of the country still wear these strange headdresses. I have seen one, made of pieces of silver money. We should third it a dreadful weight to carry upon the head but the woman to whom it belonged prized it very much, and only sold it because she was very poor indeed.
What is that strange thing into which the woman is pouring water?
Ah! that is a skin bottle. I think it must have been the skin of a goat. You see that the places where the four legs once were, are tied up very tightly that the water may not run out, and, when the bottle is full, the string round the neck will be tied fast. And then, I daresay, the skin of water will be thrown across the back of one of the good Syrian asses, and so travel a long way.
But who was the Stranger who said, “Give Me to drink”? Had He come a long journey: “Yes,” you say, “He had come a long journey, for He was very tired, and hungry and thirsty. The Stranger was the Lord Jesus, and He was all alone, because His disciples had gone to the village to buy food.”
My child, it was indeed the Son of God who thus sat weary by the wayside fountain and He had come a long journey—longer than any of us can understand—even from heaven to earth.
But why did the woman think it strange that Jesus should ask her for some water? She did not know He was the Son of God.
It was because He came from Judea, and the Jews were not friends with the people of Samaria. They would not say a word to them, nor touch any of their things, if they could help it.
Why did Jesus go on talking to the woman when she answered Him so?
Because it was always His delight to dc the will of His Father, and it was God’s will that this poor woman, who had been trying to be happy away from God, should hear about His gift—the living water which could satisfy her forever.
The water in Jacob’s fountain lay deep down, and must be drawn up with labor by anyone who was thirsty, but the water or which Jesus spoke is the gift of God, given to all who will come and take it, freely.
The woman of Samaria had all her life been crying, “More, more!” but there was still a great place in her heart which had never been filled. The Lord Jesus knew all about it, and He gave her the water of life, to be within her a living fountain springing up unto everlasting life.
The same Lord Jesus, now in heaven, thinks of you, a little child, and asks you to come to Him that you may find all you want, now, and for evermore. This is a beautiful verse for you to say in your heart to the Lord in heaven—
“Jesus, I will trust Thee:
Trust without a doubt;
Whosoever cometh
Thou wilt not cast out.
“There is none in heaven
Or on earth like Thee!
Thou hast died for sinners,
Therefore, Lord, for me.”
P.